Love Story
by ang3Lix
Summary: A gorgeous girl and a gorgeous boy. So, what's keeping them from each other? First, they hate each other, and SIX OVER-PROTECTIVE FRIENDS. Join Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke as they try to outdo each other in their own game. (sasusakuneji)
1. Starting it off: Haruno Sakura

Hi! I'm back as usual.

Right now, I am attempting to write another fic, which is inspired by a Korean television show. Filipinos might know this as 'Full House', a very light and funny story. The characters are named as Jessie (originally, Jessica) and Justin. The main plot of this story is that Justin is an extremely popular star, and Jessie is an orphaned woman in her age of twenty-something. She was living in her 'more-than-average' home, all alone. Somehow, Justin managed to stumble upon the house, and he took liking of it. But Jessie was defiant and wouldn't let him buy the house… so what happened was they arranged a contract. They announced themselves husband and wife, for Jessie to snag a chance to get it back. Well, you can trail the story from there.

Now that it's vacation, and I don't have to bother with any school work, I'm gonna try a 20-chapter story or more. With my very inspired mind, who can stop me? I was just joking. But I will try, just for the sake of having fun.

So, here's a brief introduction of the plot and characters, so no one will get confused or anything.

* * *

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

* * *

**Characters:**

Uchiha Sasuke- _he is one of the most famous actors in the show business today. He is extremely gorgeous, arrogant, yet in a very cool way. In only one smile, or maybe even a wink, a girl can undergo hyperventilation or just swoon over him. In simpler terms: a heart throb. (15 years old)_

Haruno Sakura- _she is the daughter of a billionaire tycoon and one of the top-notch ramp and commercial models. Though with the profound status of her parents, and not to mention her perfect physique, she is rather boyish, spending time with her friends, who are, in fact, all boys. (15 years old)_

Uchiha Shizuke and Hiromi- _Sasuke's parents. They are currently living abroad, (New York, to be exact) together with his brother, Itachi. They are business tycoons themselves, though not the best of the best. (somewhere in their thirties)_

Uchiha Itachi- _Sasuke's brother. He already has in his hands the responsibility of running one of the many businesses of his parents._

Haruno Daisuke and Yukari- _Sakura's parents. They also reside in New York, where one of the many branches of their company was stationed. They own one of the best hotels around the world, called China-Star Hotels. ( I know it's crappy. So don't sue me or anything!) Though Haruno Yukari now didn't engage much in modeling, she was still up to it when she didn't have anything else in mind. (somewhere in their thirties)_

Hyuuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Rock Lee- _these are the group of friends Sakura has. Though awfully rich, the group and she had lots of history together, ever since they were small. Though they have separate lives, they still check on Sakura like an older (not to mention over protective) brother does to his baby sister. (15 years old)_

Yamanaka Ino- _an aspiring model. She, in this story, plays a character which is a bit arrogant and has extreme jealousy. She had a thing for Sasuke, like almost more than half of the girl population in the world. She goes against Sakura when she enters modeling, because of her parents urging. But she is angered more when she found out Sasuke and Sakura was… (don't kill me for this, k?) ( BEEP). _

Hyuuga Hinata- _a normal girl Sakura befriends, together with Tenten. Well, she used to think she was, but then after she discovered Neji was her cousin, they grew closer as friends.

* * *

_

The characters will be explained further more with in the coming chapters.

May I please note that the setting of this story is not in the shinobi world, but in a regular setting. Some characters might be OOC, especially Sakura and Sasuke. But that is only for the pure purpose of the laughter. Neji might be out of character in this story, if not, a little bit.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. I am exceedingly poor.

* * *

**Love Story**

**By**: ang3Lix

**Chapter title**: Starting it off: Haruno Sakura

* * *

_Six years old._

" _Why are you crying?" came his firm and monotonous voice._

" _Come on, Sakura, we can't beat that boy to a pulp if you don't tell us." There came another one._

" _Yeah! We'll kick his butt for you, Sakura-chan!"_

" _Yeah, he's dead meat! I'll feed him to Akamaru afterwards!"_

" _Bullies are so troublesome."_

" _Hmmm… bugs will surely freak out those babies."_

_She watched them formulate a plan. And she realized they we're doing this for her. This realization resulted to even more tears. The group of boys stared at her with worry in their sparkling, innocent eyes. _

" _Sakura-chan…"_

_She looked up, tears running down her pink-tainted cheeks. She smiled at them, a genuine one at that._

" _You guys are my bestfriends."

* * *

_

_Ten years old._

" _Sakura."_

" _Hai, Neji-san?"_

" _You're acting strange."_

" _Oh… it's nothing." _

" _Sakura-chan!" _

_She looked behind her, and saw the rest of her friends run towards her. They just finished their tutorial lessons and decided to meet up in the park. She and Neji, unlike the others, didn't need tutors, for they were genius enough to pass quizzes even without reviewing. The others had very much potential, though not as much as the two._

_All of them sat on the grassy soil, enjoying the wind that caressed their faces._

" _Sakura, you are acting very strange." _

" _No, there's nothing going on, Kiba…" she said, accidentally slipping in a tone of nervousness in her voice._

" _So, there IS something happening! Come on, tell us, Sakura-chan."_

" _I told you guys, it's nothing, really."_

" _I thought were you're best friends?" the blond boy said sadly, pouting a little._

_That got her._

" _Fine… if you really want to know. Somebody told me he loves me." she sighed, scratching her mop of pink hair indifferently._

" _WHAT!" they shouted in frustration._

" _Sakura, you are too young for that! Don't tell me you're gonna—"_

" _Where is that dip stick! I'm gonna rip his esophagus out!"_

" _Since when did you learn about the digestive system, Naruto!"_

" _Since when I was in the 4th grade."_

" _Oh. You were actually smart right there."_

" _I swear he won't be able to pee for months!"_

" _Love is too troublesome."_

_She again watched her friends formulate a plan. This had been a daily routine since they were younger. She didn't mind about them protecting her that much, but, she thought killing the boy would not be the grandest idea ever. She thought of reasonable things…_

" _Killing that boy is the grandest idea ever!"_

… _And they would always think of the opposite._

" _Who is he, Sakura?" Neji seemed to growl. That passed the level of cool._

" _His name is Akira."_

" _Wasn't he the one who used to call you 'forehead girl'?"_

" _Hai."_

" _He will certainly get his ass kicked."_

_Neji-san was indeed growing up faster._

_Why?_

_He used the 'A' word.

* * *

_

_13 years old._

" _You hate men?"_

" _Hai."_

" _Why?"_

" _I don't know."_

" _Well… what do you do when someone ask you out?"_

" _I'll follow daddy's advice."_

" _What?"_

" _Break their noses."_

_Silent pause._

" _I think that wasn't supposed to be literal."_

" _Oh. But it works, you know."_

" _Sakura-chan, would that mean you hate us too?" Naruto asked glumly, his cerulean eyes filled with the slightest worry._

" _Well, I hate men, except for daddy."_

_Looks of hope shot from the blond boy, directing itself towards Sakura._

" _Why would I hate my bestfriends?"_

" _I knew it! I love Sakura-chan!"_

" _Dobe. Let go of her. She's turning pale."_

" _Shut up, Neji!"

* * *

_

Their friendship continued until they were at the fresh age of 15. Their bond seem so unbreakable, and everyone of them grew up in specific ways.

Neji became more leaner and muscular over the years, his white eyes and handsome face seemed to make girls swoon over him. Though he had no eye for women, he still was the over protective kind when it comes to his pink-haired friend.

Naruto had transformed just like Neji, but his face was much more angular than the round ones he used to have when he was a child. He too was one piece of eye-candy for girls, and it seemed that it was now Sakura's turn to kick ass. Though he had grown, he was still the hyper active ramen loving boy she used to spend time with.

Truth be told… all of her friends had become attractive in some way. All of them developed well muscled frames, and angular faces… yes, even Lee, who had the thickest eyebrows one can ever imagine. Shikamaru still had that dazed (or maybe a more fitting term is bored) look in his eyes, which made him look really cool, or even more. Shino, who always wore a pair of shades, had yet attracted women with his 'mysterious' appearance. Kiba, who always had his dog with him, was indeed cute, with all those grins and smiles. Girls first though it was the dog thing, but they soon realized Kiba was one attractive guy as well. Lee, who was the least fortunate of them, wasn't thought of ugly—go level those eyebrows and he could really get some attention. But he was the most admired of them all when it comes to spirit and strength—he stands out like a sore thumb in the crowd, yes, but he didn't let that bother him at all.

Now, their little Sakura had also grown.

You don't know how much.

At the age of 13, puberty seemed to kick in.

At the age of fifteen… now that was one different story. She was one of the 'perfect' girls you can see around Konoha High. Why does it have to be only see? Go figure. Always accompanying her were her 'bestfriends', all deadly in beating the crap out of guys. They are these over protective beings that had been always one of the greatest obstacle a guy had to go through just to have a seat beside the pink-haired girl.

Sakura had developed fine curves, that no girl in this high school could ever match. Fortunately for her, she managed to attain the well-known genes of her model for a mother. Her eyes are of innocently sparkling emerald, her hair a hue of cherry blossoms, reached until her back. She had always been so kind and gentle, and always had a very happy expression. Well, most of the time, that is.

Though she was certainly like an angel who slipped from a fluff of cloud and landed on earth with a dull thud, she had different attributes. There are several rules in this game which involves the pink-head.

If you asked her out on a date, without being caught or beaten up by her 'brothers', congratulations. If she accepts, then you really have one hell of luck, because she had never accepted dates—as in not in her whole life span. If she declines, go away and don't be persistent. Well, if you are a stubborn jackass, you better get ready.

This girl is dangerous. If she finds you very irritating, annoying, infuriating, or whatnot, she gives you another chance to back off. Well, if you don't, and even do any kind of perverse act, ha, congratulations to you once more.

You just earned yourself a broken nose.

But there is a very miniscule escape route. If you stop her from breaking your nose, well, good for you. But when her 'brothers' hear about this, then you are officially dead. You better buy yourself a decent coffin, at least that will hide your horrid appearance after they are done with you. Wherever you go, wherever you hide, they will always have a way to track you down—and no one had ever proven that rule wrong.

Some guys in the campus is sensible. Yes, half of the guy population had asked her out, and when she politely declined, they respected her decision and skedaddled. But half of the guy population are also stubborn jackasses and wouldn't stop being persistent—I wouldn't narrate the next thing. I expect you to already know.

Life had been indeed quite easy for all of them.

But little did they know, that something was already listed down for her.

And for them as well.

* * *

That's finished. I have to say, this chapter had to have soooooooooooooo many changes, and I was nearly infuriated by it! Well, that should be at least expected.

Anyway, I hope somebody will read this story, judging by the fact that there are at least billions of stories here in I'm really not forcing you guys to review, but please, it will be much appreciated if you do. I do need feedback, right?

And for those people who expected my other story, your wish is my command, I'll frequently update it as well, don't worry!

Anyways, happy vacation!

_ang3Lix_


	2. At the other end of the world

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. It rightfully belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator.

**A/n:** Chapter 2, people! Ger ready!

**Special Thanks to the following:**

**1. Lila Paige Rose**- Alliana, this is funny you know? I mean, the situation. I knew you wouldn't recognize me! Do you remember the story titles 'So Bite Me', 'Unplugged', or maybe 'A Fairy's Tale'? Hope you recognize me with those few hints! And, I already read your story, 'Lost'. I loved it!

**2. Phoe-chan**

**3. Hao's Anjul**

**4. Xoni Newcomer**

**5. Sasusakuforeva-Ilovesasuke**

**6. Hatsukoi No Mamouri (aaw, being Chinese isn't that bad! Right?)**

**7. Trigemini**

**8. Elegant destruction**

**9. XBlessed**

**10. Sakura Kage (you reviewed in this fic too! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!)**

**11. Pyroqueen4KAC**

**12. AnimEvivverz (thanks a lot! I appreciate your advice, and I will use it wisely!) **

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

**Love Story**

**By: **ang3Lix

**Chapter title: **the other end of the world

_You cry not because you are weak. You cry because it proves you're still alive._

Loud and heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway. The bell had rung a few minutes ago, and so all the students had entered their respective classes.

A 15 year old with auburn hair and night blue eyes stopped at the sight of the principal's door. In his left cheek, a purplish-blue bruise was sported, as well as a few scratches and bumps. His nose, looking how disfigured and bent it was, seemed to be broken. A little blood stained his shirt. He looked as if he was going to erupt. If it wasn't the human world, smoke would be blowing out of his ears right now.

A simple sign hung on the metal doorknob, with a not-so-simple message.

**Principal's office. Do you really want to experience hell so much! Then go on and enter the goddamned room! I'll make sure you'd want a rendezvous with the devil instead!**

The boy mentally shuddered. The principal was one of the scariest people to walk on earth. She had a few troubles in finding her inner peace, if she ever had one. No one can blame her, Konoha High was simply too rough. Students here are not calm and collected—they are devils in their very own hells. The janitor was enough to drive anyone crazy—and she had to manage the whole school. If her looks can kill, everyone would be dead a hundred times.

He ignored the sign and turned the knob open.

A blond woman sat in her desk, where stacks of piled papers lie naturally on the wooden surface. Her eyes departed from one of the documents in her hands and snapped up towards the seething male infront of her. She raised a quizzical yet irritated brow.

" Did you not see the note outside?" she asked.

" I did, and it doesn't matter." He growled.

" Akazawa Kentarou. What do you want?" she asked through gritted teeth. He was one perfect examples of why she wanted this whole high school burned down and swept away by metro aids.

_**Annoying little jackass.**_

" Those group of bastards and that queen bitch hit me on the face. They should be kicked out!" he shouted angrily, pointing at the nasty bruise on his face.

" Haruno Sakura declined what you had offered. You were just being one stubborn moron who had to be so friggin' persistent!" she yelled back suddenly. Kentarou took a small step back. Just for a precaution.

This situation was far too familiar. Other males, just like Kentarou, had barged inside her office because of the same reason. They should have know messing around with Haruno Sakura also meant messing around with the most dangerous guys in the school. Kentarou's appearance was a little pleasant in her standards. The others suffered a much worse fate.

" What I did and what I had offered is not your business, Tsunade-sensei." He growled, looking away.

She rubbed her left arm, a fetish she had to keep herself calm. She breathed out a sigh as she turned to him again.

" I can't do that. You do know that their parents has a great influence on the owners of the school. But I'll talk to them." She stated, her hands entwined together.

" I WON'T ACCEPT THAT DAMNED ANSWER!"

" GO BACK TO YOUR CLASS YOU DUMB ASS!"

General science was not that boring for Haruno Sakura. To tell the truth, she liked the subject. It just made her feel very sleepy, for the fact that she already knew all of these lessons they were discussing. She had the slight interest of reading in advance. It left her with the opportunity to wallow through her thoughts.

She knew that she, and others, are going to get into trouble. Just before their chemistry class, Akazawa Kentarou had asked her out.

o-O-o

_**Flashback**_

o-O-o

" _Come on, it's gonna be fun." He tried to assure her._

_But she never was._

_She didn't like this guy at all._

_For all she know, he was an insensitive little bastard who had gone through many women._

" _No thank you." She tried to be polite. _

_One thing she tried to learn how to be._

" _I really should get going Kentarou-san. I have classes." A hint of sarcasm dripped out of her words._

_Arms shot out on either of her sides, trapping her in between._

_Now she was angry._

_**Ass-kicking time.**_

" _Do you think I'll get that for an answer?"_

_She made a silent yet distinct noise._

_Kentarou felt a hand rest on his cheek._

_He felt the sides of his mouth upturn into a small smirk._

_**I knew she wanted me.**_

_A small twinkle was present in her emerald eyes._

" _Kentarou… I think…" she whispered,_

" _Yeah, I know, you love me?" he supplied arrogantly, reaching out to place his hand on her hip._

_Her smile dropped into a frown dangerously._

" _You're a moron." She finished._

_Her hand left his cheek as it curled into a ball. It soared into the air, landed heavily and made hard contact with his nose. He instantly felt his cartilages break and tear as his finger shot up to stop the bleeding._

" _You self absorbed ass! You try to pull that crap again, I'll make sure it's not only your nose that's broken!" she began to walk away furiously when he spoke in a squeezed up tone. His fingers where upon his bleeding nose._

" _You… you bitch! You should—"_

_Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish his statement. A strong arm grabbed his color fiercely, forcing him to look straight into a pair of white, frightening eyes. He regretted such gesture. He gulped the lump that formed unintentionally in his throat._

" _You do **NOT** talk to her like that. I do **NOT** allow it. Do that again and I'll have your ass up and out of the way." He seethed, his iron grip on his collar tightening severely. " Dig?"_

" _Hey! So do we! You're hogging up all the fun, Neji." A cheery voice called from behind him._

_Oh god… the whole group is in here._

" _What did he do?" Kiba asked, cracking his knuckles noisily._

" _He's an arrogant little shit." He muttered, shoving the limp body into a wall. " And he asked her out." He added simply._

" _Aa." Shino muttered, his arms, which were folded across his chest a while ago, fell from the position._

" _How dare you! Taking control of Sakura-san's youth!" Lee shouted, a raving fire dancing in his eyes. He stroke a pose. Everyone nearly fell over._

" _You made a very wrong decision, punk." Naruto said, walking closer to the trapped male. " You see, here's the drift. You mess with our little Sakura," he said, patting her head,_

" _Hey!" she complained loudly, swatting his hand away playfully._

_Naruto chuckled before continuing. " You mess with the entire group."_

" _Troublesome little jerk." Shikamaru mumbled, holding up three fingers, as if counting. " We start at three. In one, you'll probably die." He said simply, as if it was an unimportant subject._

" _Three." Shikamaru started._

" _Two." Naruto continued._

_Kentarou was literally shaking. He ditched his manly exterior._

" _One." Neji ended._

" _Halt!" a voice said._

_Sakura stood beside Neji, who had his fist already up in the air and curled into a tight ball. Her left hand was up, parallel to her shoulder, clearly stating 'stop'. She looked like a traffic enforcer with what she was doing._

" _What?" he hissed out, practically annoyed._

_Sakura held out her index finger and poked the tip of Kentarou's nose. He winced in pain. " See this?" she asked in an optimistic tone._

" _Broken nose…" Neji mused, lowering his fist slightly._

" _Yup. Now, let it go, Neji-san. I bet you'll get into trouble for this." she warned, shaking her finger. " Remember we have Chemistry classes. Iruka-sensei will get mad if we were late. He'll think Kakashi-sensei's traits has rubbed off on us." _

_All of them, including Neji, were skeptical. They didn't let this kind of guy wander around in public, pulling the same crap on every other girl. But his nose looked horrible… he probably wouldn't have any history after Sakura's hit. _

_Not only that, but the girl's eyes._

_**Damn those big green eyes! **All of them cursed mentally, seeing her pull off the cute-puppy-dog look._

_It was… kinda cute, actually._

" _Fine…" he muttered, releasing Kentarou's lapel, letting him slide off. " Fine…" he murmured again, shoving his hands inside his pockets._

_Sakura beamed. " Good! Let's go!"_

_And off they went, leaving the bloody-nosed boy cursing under his breath._

_From afar, they looked nothing more but fan boys following a gorgeous girl around._

_But people knew better than to think of that._

_They were, to tell the truth, the most dangerous group to walk on the marbled floor of Konoha High._

o-O-o

" … materials density greater than the heavy liquid will submerge, while the one with less density will rise to the surface. So, what does 'heavy liquid' mean after all? Haruno-san?" Iruka asked her, placing his book on the table.

She didn't answer.

" Haruno-san?"

No answer.

" Haruno-san!" he called loudly, making Sakura jump on her seat.

" What?" she asked, looking around.

_She is still a child, after all…_

He breathed out a long sigh. " Answer the question, Sakura."

" Oh. That. These are thick fluids or solutions applied to divide substances of various densities through their buoyancy." She said simply.

Not one glance at her book.

She was truly an amazing student.

" Good. Very good. Bring out your notebooks, copy the notes on the board." Iruka saw the principal's assistant poke her head through the opened door. He didn't bother asking.

" Hyuuga, Uzumaki, Nara, Aburame, Lee and Inuzuka. To the principal's office." He called out lazily.

Of course, them. He had memorized their surnames because of their regular trip to Tsunade's office, which was considered as hell when it come to students. Almost all of them ended up fearing the woman. Except for this group.

Sakura casted them a worried glance, knowing it was because of the broken nose she had given to Kentarou. Though he deserved it, she should have been a little discreet…

Naruto gave her a small wink and an assuring smile before following the others out of the door.

The girl beside her, who thought she was the one being smiled and winked at, promptly turned beet red and slumped her head on her hand. She stared at space dreamily. Poor little girl.

" Wait!" she called out quite loudly than intended. She flushed and continued, " I'll go with them."

Iruka lifted a hand and did a simple hand gesture to let her out of the class, muttering words like 'you're probably in trouble as well'.

She got out of her seat and followed the other six through the hallway.

" That's the 24th this month." She grounded out.

She received no answer.

" 24th!" she shouted louder, trying to emphasize her point.

" And?" Naruto prodded, thinking the blond had more to say than the number of times they had been sent to the same room over and over again.

Tsunade banged her open palms on the wooden table, making the stacks of paper wobble dangerously. " Do you guys know how inked up and worn out your permanent records are! This is insane! You can't keep on beating up every guy that asks Haruno out!"

" We only beat up the guys who act like jackasses. If that boy, Kentarou right? If he just simply walked away after Sakura declined, he couldn't have been in that kind of trouble." Naruto pointed out.

" It doesn't matter how you do it!" she screeched, making the six of them wince at the sound of her voice.

" Damn, this is troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, his eyes drifting off to the open window.

" I'm afraid Tsunade-sensei's youth is fading away." Lee commented.

That was wrong.

Tsunade was indeed aging, and she was not fond of that. Her eyes burned of pure irritation. " YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS OVER WHAT ANTI-AGING PRODUCTS I USE!" she screamed at him, making Lee stumble back a couple of steps.

Before Lee could mutter any apology of some sort, the door bursted open, revealing a pink-haired girl.

Ah, yes.

Haruno Sakura.

" What are you doing here? You have a class, right?" Tsunade asked, breathing heavily.

Sakura walked up to her, and quickly explained. " Tsunade-sensei, it's not their fault. I did it. They did nothing at all, so please don't reprimand them." She paused. " again."

" Sakura, go back to your class." Neji muttered, scowling at her.

" No." she said firmly, rooted on the spot. " Tsunade-sensei?"

The principal was in deep thought. She unknowingly took her seat, her face showing analytical struggle over certain things. She muttered a few words under her breath. Then she turned her attention back to the group once more.

" Why?" she finally asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

" I don't like him." She stated. But then, she realized it might have sounded really bad, so by instinct, she added, " I saw him with another girl yesterday. He might have thought he can get away with two-timing."

An 'o' formed in Tsunade's mouth as she struggled to absorb the situation and make her final verdict.

" Fine. You all are free to go."

" I won't thank you." Neji said serenely, turning away.

" UCHIHA SASUKE, UCHIHA SASUKE, UCHIHA SASUKE!"

" OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!"

" I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!"

Hundreds, and hundreds… and HUNDREDS of them clumped together forming into one great wave of fanatical whelps.

" BE MY BOYFRIEND, BE MY BOYFRIEND, BE MY BOYFRIEND!" one screamed at the top of her lungs, her face beet red from excitement, the veins in her neck throbbing like mad.

A raven-haired, onyx-eyed pretty boy walked down the red carpet casually, trying hard to avoid all the arms that reached out for him. He gave them a small (not to mention forced) smile as the others who witnessed such act passed out. One girl hyperventilated, her mouth connected to a brown paper bag.

Physically, the short metal barrier that separated from and being crushed was beginning to break away, due to the massive force. He quickened his pace slightly.

His manager, Hatake Kakashi, walked towards him and accompanied him to the venue.

" Ready?" he whispered silently, that only the two of them could hear.

" Hn."

" I'll take that as a yes." He muttered hiding his grin.

Kakashi was certainly a talented man. Being a star himself during his younger days, he had acquired many talents and harnessed them into entering full stardom. But he found the job very uninteresting, so he gave up all the fame he got and became talent manager. When he was still living in Tokyo, he had stumbled upon many suitable candidates. He managed to pass through (by driving, of course) a private basketball court beside a colossal mansion. There, he saw Uchiha Sasuke, the son of two well-known business tycoons. He had asked for a meeting with the whole family and proposed his plan… and fortunately, they accepted.

And so, with hard work, here stood Sasuke, just like Kakashi was when he was younger.

Kakashi had a couple of attributes that made him stood out. One, his hair. It clearly defied the Newton's three laws of gravity. And second, his preferences of literature. Though he did it secretly, he had no intention of hiding that hobby infront of the Uchiha. While Sasuke found it extremely disturbing, Kakashi found it…well… very interesting.

The two of them made a two-door entrance only to be met by a flashes of light coming from a hundred cameras. Sasuke was used to such lighting, so he didn't mind about the flashes. he let himself be led to a long white table, and seated himself beside Kakashi. As soon as the interview session was officially started, the questions immediately started.

A man in his early thirties, started it off. " There had been a rumor that you are having an affair with your co-star, Hikaru Yukino. Is it true?" he asked sternly.

It irritated him.

He took the microphone from Kakashi, slightly shaking from what you call anger.

" No." he began. " that's just a rumor. Hikaru and I are just… good friends."

_I don't even give a damn about her, you morons. _

" I see." He answered back, unconvinced.

" The press had been hearing a lot of things lately. People said that you have decided to stop home-schooling and enter a real school. Your reaction, please."

_Why do you shit heads always poke your heads into other people's business?_

" That," he pause for a while, glancing at Kakashi. He simply nodded. " is true."

The once hushed silence that covered the room broke into pieces as the reporters began to mumble things and take notes on their notebooks.

" Does that mean you're quitting show business?"

" Did your parents decided this for you?"

" What is the school you chose to study at?"

Kakashi stood up and began to hush them up. " Please, one by one."

When the press finally fell into complete silence, Sasuke began to answer the said questions.

" For now, I think I can manage my career and my school work at the same time, because I don't have much projects to do, so leaving the business is not an option for me. My parents did push me into it, and I don't really found anything wrong with the suggestion. Being home-schooled is far different from entering a real one."

" The school I have to enter was decided by m parents as well. I'm planning to study at one of the biggest school in Japan, perhaps."

" It's called Konoha High."

TIRING… VERY TIRING.

I'll go to sleep.

Forever.

Nah, I'll wake up after 6 hours… that should do it.

Please read! (and review, if you guys have the time.)

_ang3Lix._


	3. When you thought you knew the whole scen...

**Disclaimer:** none of the characters are mine, but Masashi Kishimoto's.

It's time for chapter 3! Are your seatbelts nice and comfy? To be truthful, I don't care. I just want to talk. (JOKING.)

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ. IT WILL CLEAR UP A MISUNDERSTANDING THAT SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED!**

Do you remember the flashback when Sakura hit Kentarou's nose? She said " Now let it go, Neji-san, we have chemistry class next. Bla bla bla bla… Iruka-sensei might think that **Kakashi-sensei**'s traits had rubbed off on us."

But, Kakashi **isn't** a teacher in this story, right? He was Sasuke's **manager**. **I AM SO SORRY!** **IT WAS ALL A STUPID MISTAKE!** I hope that cleared it all up. Gomen! **Scorpion05**, you noticed that first!

* * *

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

* * *

**SPECIAL THANKS TO:**

**1. trigemini (really? Thank you! You reviewed in all of my stories!)**

**2. senko (oh, that's not the end of it! There will be lots of twists in this story (grins evilly))**

**3. darkphoenixsaga (okay, more coming up!)**

**4. Phoe-chan (thanks for pointing that out! And I read your profile. How did you add a picture? Is it allowed already?)**

**5. SoraKoi The Water Goddess (thanks so much! Here's your update!)**

**6. eisshi louisse (really! Out of 85? Thank you so much! That brightened my day! And, if you are willing for a brain transplant, it could be possible, you know. Hehe!)**

**7. hiDden022 (aba! Isa pang Pilipino! Ang dami talaga natin dito. Ha ha, love ko yang song na yan! Magtatapos na yung full house, kainis! Thanks sa review ha!)**

**8. Hao's Anjul (yup, very. But she tries to be polite at first. It's those boys who have serious mind problems…)**

**9. Kasumi (thank you! Here's your update!)**

**10. Xoni Newcomer ( really? It did? I actually thought it was dull… thanks!)**

**11. Hatsukoi no Mamouri (oh, that's good. But having parents obsessed with school grades are not! –no offense- my parents can be dead weight sometimes… I feel for you! Wha..? the divider didn't show up! I placed some in the quick edit mode! Sorry about that!)**

**12. animEvivvErz (thanks a lot!)**

**13. waterfox96 (oh god! Thank you so much! I'll do my best!)**

**14. scorpion05 (thank you for noticing that! I also found out, but too late, I already posted it!)

* * *

**

**Love Story**

**By: **ang3Lix

**Chapter title: **When you thought you know the whole scenario…

* * *

Sakura tore her gaze away from her test paper, as the booming voice of their principal echoed through the large speakers outside the hall. An announcement was about to be made, and not all of them are eager about it. For all they know, Tsunade might give one of her unending 'sermons'. It would be okay if she spoke in a normal speaking voice, but right now, she had a microphone connected to thirteen large speakers, stationed at every corner of the entire school. That wasn't good.

But today, Tsunade is speaking quite calmly, no one had ever expected that to happen. Maybe it's safe to listen…

" I am aware that half of the student population are girls. But please, try not to bring forth a rampage after this announcement."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru cracked open one eye and noticed the gesture.

" Somethin' wrong?" he drawled, trying his best not to sleep at the very spot.

Sakura gave one of her best friends a small smile and shook her head.

With that, he gladly closed his eyes and began his daily nap—yes. Inside the classroom.

" Some of you might have heard this in the news, if you students ever had the urge to watch it," Tsunade said with pure sarcasm, then continued. " that Uchiha Sasuke held a press conference the day before."

Girls began moving in an alarming rate with the mention of his name. Giggling and squealing they did.

" He had announced that he was to quit home-schooling to enter a real high school. And it was also said, that he is entering a high school, not in Nerima, but here in Tokyo."

They squealed more. It was probably only Sakura who remained impassive and continued to listen.

" I have been confirmed, that he was to enter our very own Konoha High. Tomorrow, he will arrive. You may continue with your classes." The speakers were automatically turned off with one click.

For the girls in the whole high school, everything seemed to burst into a full array of colors. As if they were poked awake, they sprang into their usual girly fetish—gossiping, squealing, giggling… they I mention gossiping? The boys are poor… they are to suffer. Girl moments like these are like second levels of hell.

Sakura connected her gaze back to her test paper. She realized she was already done a while ago. She groaned in frustration. Great. Now she had nothing to keep all the noise away.

" What's so great about him?" she mumbled, her fingers playing with her mechanical pencil.

Girls, of course, with their super-natural sense of hearing (it was because of their constant chatting), heard the small whisper that came from the very middle of the classroom. They stared at her unbelievingly, expressions of utter shock painted on every face. They noticed Shikamaru snoozing beside her, but they didn't have time to comment on that.

Sakura realized the stares she had been receiving, and looked up from her desk. " What?"

" D-don't tell me you don't know Sasuke-kun!" one girl sputtered out.

Sakura stared at her as if there was nothing wrong at all. " I don't." she shrugged indifferently. " So what?"

" Sasuke-kun is a showbiz heart throb, he had been promoting 127 commercials since he started his career, he dominated the movie industry just like that!" another one said, snapping her fingers to emphasize her point.

Sakura stared back at them, raising a fine eyebrow. " …and?"

" He has 47 official fan clubs all over the world, 50 that's not yet promoted, billions and billions of fans scattered all around! He officially made 98 girls faint all because of his smile!" one screamed in anxiety, trying to rig out something more out of the girl than that plain expression.

Sakura shrugged yet again. " He's just another boy, if you ask me."

The boys inside the class, which had been reduced to mere eye-twitching because of the noise, finally came back to life and cheered—finally, a girl who didn't fall head over heels with that showbiz icon. Haruno Sakura was indeed special… and hot. Let's see how that Uchiha kid might react when he found out that there was always one girl that doesn't see him as anything more than 'another boy',

Shikamaru bolted his head upwards, his eyes half closed.

" What's with all the noise?" he said, rubbing his left eye sleepily.

" Fangirl craze." Sakura supplied, noticing the sleepy, nonetheless awake, Shikamaru.

" Now you see how boys suffer."

* * *

The bell rung 5 minutes earlier than usual, signaling the end of their 5th period. They were already free to go. Though many students were already filing out of the classroom and into the halls, Sakura and the rest of the group where certain that half of those students in the hallway are about to show up inside the gym a while later.

How convenient was it for Naruto and the others? You see, all of them, except for Lee and Shino, got killer positions in the boy's basketball varsity team, that was led by none other than Zabuza-sensei. And what tough luck Sakura had, because she herself was a member of the girl's basketball varsity team, also led by the said coach. Meaning, with all the training proctored by one man, they can keep an eye on Sakura, at the same time get enough practice for their games.

Lee was too engrossed on martial arts to engage on basketball, and Shino was simply too quiet and too involved with science to have any interest in joining.

Sakura didn't mind, it was kind of fun for her to have her friends along. But, it seemed that they were a little too over-protective of her, and she was afraid of what will happen in the future. Though she was rejecting dates as many as she could, she can't escape, nor avoid the fact that she has to have a relationship with another, right? If her best friends in the whole world wouldn't pass up a chance of beating up a guy who's asking for a date, what will happen to the guy that asks more than that? Will they also beat the shit out of her… (gulp) boyfriend…?

_**You're only fifteen. You're doing fine. Get on with it.**_

Sakura had this unnatural feeling since Tsunade-sensei announced the arrival of Uchiha Sasuke. For some unexplainable reasons, she had hated those heart throb actors… they were all faking things. Fake… is connected to rumors, rumors are connected to lies, lies are connected to liars. She **hated** liars.

Sending the random thoughts into a more secluded portion of her mind, she stood up, waited for Shikamaru to pack up his things, and both headed for their lockers.

* * *

" Frickin' hell." Shikamaru muttered, stopping dead in his tracks.

Sakura whipped her head to his direction, bewildered with the sudden words. " What?" she craned her neck towards the wall just outside the gym, where a wall clock hung innocently. Her face fell into one of the most stoniest she could ever muster. They had been walking towards the gym way too slow… it took them ten minutes. Which was certainly not the best thing to do when your basketball coach is Momochi Zabuza.

" We're—"

" Late." One seemed to growl.

Infront of them stood their good ole coach, grinning at them. No… that was an understatement. With a closer look, he was **NOT** a good ole coach, but looked more like a sadist with the burning passion of making people suffer. He was **CERTAINLY NOT** grinning. He was baring his teeth at them. And those teeth where not flat and dull… it was outrageously pointy. This is just like passing through one of the little stages of what they call eternal suffering.

Sakura shifted his gaze towards Shika, though his facial expression was still bored as ever, she could tell his mind was suffering a waging mental war.

Turning her attention back to their coach, she began slowly, hoping not to arouse his well known temper. " I… I mean, we, have a very good and logical explanation for this, coach." she assured him in a friendly way.

And she knew no way he'd buy it.

" GET. IN. BEFORE. I. START. YELLING. AT. MY. MEGA. PHONE."

As an all around student and basketball player, both knew that when Zabuza talks in chopped up sentences, he was not to be angered any further. So they nodded in appreciation before entering the massive doors.

Scream. Hoot. Whistle. Shout. Squeal.

All those are the things that met heir ears like a big crashing boulder.

And then…

" SHUT UP, YOU LAZY A-**beep-**HOLES!"

There, standing in the very middle of the court, was Zabuza-sensei, looking rigid as ever, a loudhailer grasped firmly in one hand. The whole student body fell into an eerie silence. He turned around, and positioned his megaphone parallel to his mouth. Two groups of players were standing behind him, one group of girls and one group for boys.

" WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR! GET ON WITH THE ATTENDANCE!" he screamed deafeningly.

" H-hai! Ishida Akira!" one began, seeing the sharp eyes of Zabuza-sensei rest on him.

" Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto grinned childishly, giving everyone a v-sign. Girls began to squeal and hyperventilate like mad. " I will be the future MVP of this Inter-Hi—"

" QUIT YOUR INTRODUCTORY SPEECH AND GET ON WITH THE REST!"

" Sheesh, you're way too mad, Momochi-sen—"

" DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

" Hyuuga Neji."

**SQUEAL!**

" Inuzuka Kiba."

**SCREAM!**

" Nara Shikamaru." (a/n technically, Shikamaru is still included on the roll call cause he's still a part of the team, being the team manager.)

**FAINT!**

" Toshihiko Seki, present!"

" Soichiro Hoshi, here!"

That ended the squealing session of the huge girl population. It was now, finally, the boys' turn…

" Hiroaki Aiko, present!" said a girl with night blue hair, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

" Satoshi Reiko, present!"

" Maitsuda Mariko, present."

" Tategami Rin, present!"

The boy population was clearly waiting for one girl to speak up. And probably, she would come last. Well, they said the best always was saved for last, right?

Neji's glare was automatically locked in place. In second's time, whistling and hooting, and not to mention shouting, will be heard from the numerous bleachers that were set high above.

Excitement flooded every thudding vein, admiration shone in every eye. She was getting closer.

" Kurikawa Miki, present!"

There! She's next.

" Harun—"

**WHISTLE!**

**SHOUT!**

**HOOT!**

Then…

**GLARE.**

" Shit! They're looking, they're looking!"

" Don't! Shut up for a sec!"

" If you don't shut up, were gonna die!"

" Oh, don't be stupid, will you? It's nothing—"

" Nothing! They—"

" KEEP QUIET OR I'LL KICK YOU OUT OF THIS PLACE!"

" Haruno Sakura, present."

Zabuza nodded briefly, and began his instructions. " GET ON WITH YOUR WARM UP! GIVE ME 50 LAPS AROUND THE GYM, GO, GO, GO!"

Thus, the training brought from hell began.

And what did our little Shikamaru do?

He was napping.

Again.

* * *

" That was funny, Haruno-san. You're one hell of a joker yourself!" a raven haired man chuckled naturally, holding the hand of his wife who was sitting across him.

" Well, Uchiha-san, you crack me up pretty good as well." The other jokingly said.

Four people were huddled on one table, laughing and drinking, practically enjoying themselves. These two families had a close tie with each other, although their children never really met each other yet. All four of them have been close friends since their high school days.

" Say, Daisuke, has your daughter ever met our sons?" Uchiha Shizuke asked curiously, his fingers stroking his chin.

" Now that you said it… they never had." Daisuke answered with the same wonder.

" Shizuke-san, I heard Sasuke is doing really well in show business." Yukari quoted an appraisal.

" Well, he got talent, why not use it, right? How about Sakura? I'm pretty sure she's doing good herself." Uchiha's wife, Suzuki, answered, her pride well hidden.

The couple flinched. These actions never go unnoticed by Shizuke, who had the keenest eyes among the four.

" What's the matter, Daisuke?" he asked worriedly, concerned about their sudden change of behavior.

Daisuke breathed out a heavy sigh. The couple needed help with things regarding to this. they needed help from someone they could really trust. And the Uchiha couple is the best one around.

" Sakura… Sakura had been acting rather… boyish lately." Yukari managed to get out.

" She had been hanging out with her friends, well, guy friends. Were confident that she's safe around them, they treat her like their baby sister. Were even grateful because they really protect our Sakura." She continued.

" It's not only you two having child problems. Sasuke is distancing himself from us. He acts rather cold to other people. And… he seems to have no interest in women." Shizuke stated tiredly, his face resting on one hand.

Their was a rather long pause of silence.

" You know what would be funny?" Daisuke said, excitement flooding his voice.

" What?"

" If our Sakura gets engaged with your Sasuke."

Shizuke's eyes glinted maliciously. A sly grin was well spread across his handsome face. " What would really be funny is if that really happens."

Now, both men were sporting malicious expressions an sly grins. Their wives shuddered.

" You're not thinking…" Yukari almost shouted, her perfectly emerald eyes contracting in both horror and surprise.

" Well, yeah…"

" Opposites attracts, they say…"

Suzuki sighed. " Okay, what's your plan?"

* * *

A/n:

I think this chapter is the shortest among the three… sorry, I was running out on ideas of what to put between important scenes… I just got to pull myself together…

As you might have read (if you haven't been breezing through the chapters,) that Naruto is still that ambitious person, though not being Hokage, but being the MVP player of their Inter High championship. I wanted him to be that cute little guy giving everyone V-signs… o-O Anyway, please read! And review, if you ever have time.

Thanks!


	4. Just when you thought everything is out ...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. Kishimoto Masashi rightfully owns them.

**A/n **we have reached chapter 4! The fic doesn't show any signs of ending. Far too long! So, if you have any comments or suggestions, just shoot.

* * *

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

* * *

**Special thanks to the following people:**

**Cuito, Sakura Kage **(update To love the unloved! I'll leave a review, don't worry!)** anime senko, xx-Tsumi-Chan-xx- **(Well, I'm still thinking about a triangle, and Neji seemed to be the best candidate.)**, SoraKoi The Water Goddess, animEvivvErz, Demon eyes14, Trigemini, KumiiZ-Mii- **Hinata and Tenten will come along, I promise.)**, demon-lulu, arandomreader, benjem, Unheard Symphony **(yeah, I'm angel-sakura070/yukari-nixxx/zakurah/etc. I did write 'unplugged'. And I deleted it. I'm sorry for my stupidity. Anyway, I'm gonna write it again, don't worry.)**, Scorpion05 **(I'm glad to hear from a helpful reviewer.) **December Jewel, SasuSakuforeva-ilovesasuke, Hao's Anjul, Yokai Cesia and Chi **(thanks for putting me on your favorites!) **Ori**, **Lila Paige Rose, nikki14 angel **and**LoVeNeKo** (thank you so much! i'm continuing this, don't worry!)

**

* * *

**

**Love Story**

**By: **ang3Lix

**Chapter title: **Just when you thought everything is out of the ordinary…

" **Here comes the Uchiha Kid."

* * *

**

Sakura entered their classroom, expecting a loud burst of noises coming from students who were hanging around, waiting for the teacher. But as weird as it was, there were no girls present in the classroom, but boys dominated the whole place. And since the 'others' had different classes while she had literature, none of them were accompanying her.

She approached one boy, who was seated on the window pane, staring at the great lawns.

" Uhm, excuse me?" she asked politely, giving him a small tap on the shoulder.

He broke his gaze away and turned to look at her. He smiled respectfully. " Yes?"

" I was wondering were the other girls are?" she asked modestly.

" 'Other'? You must mean all of them." He snorted, looking at the window once more. " They're all there in the lawn, near the entrance." He motioned for Sakura to see for herself. " They're all waiting for him to arrive."

Of course, to ask who the heck was 'him' was one of the most obvious questions ever to be asked. As Tsunade-sensei mentioned yesterday, the Uchiha kid was making his 'grand appearance' today. It seemed that the whole student body, minus the boys, were huddled in a close group, excitement flooding every girl. She could almost feel it.

" Oh. Right. Of course." She muttered, that certain gut-feeling creeping into her once more. She involuntarily shuddered.

" Is there something wrong, Haruno-san?" the boy asked half curiously half worriedly.

She used her usual response, a shake of the head and a small smile.

" I could just stay here and wait." She whispered to herself.

But waiting was not an option allowed by the gods, she supposed. Because a calm, albeit loud voice boomed once again over the speakers.

" Haruno Sakura, Tsunade-sensei instructs you to meet her at the lawns immediately."

* * *

" You what!" she shouted, confusion seeping into her tone of voice.

Tsunade sighed and explained further. " Sakura, I want you to be the one to welcome Sasuke here." Sakura gaped at her, quite not believing what she had heard. " You know, tell him it's good to see him, welcome to Konoha High, bla bla bla…" she drawled, waving her hand in a gesture.

Sakura managed to stutter out, " B-but… but why me!"

" Because you're the only one who wouldn't squeal or scream or faint at the sight of him!" Tsunade urged, ignoring the pleas of the others who had been interested in doing so. " Look, it's just a simple greeting, nothing more. I'm sure he won't ask you out, flirt with you, or even check you out for that matter. He's not the type. So, please, only this once!"

" What's going on?" a slight growl was heard from behind her.

" Neji, this is nothing that concerns you." Tsunade said sternly.

" Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved, walking towards her with the rest of the group. " Watcha' up to?" he noticed the brooding Hyuuga staring at their principal in what it seemed like a glaring contest. They all knew what this means.

" Sakura, did Tsunade-sensei force you into something?" Shino asked silently, as if reading her thoughts like an open slammed up book that had been lying around carelessly.

" I asked her to welcome Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade supplied tartly, breaking off the contest.

" She. Will. Not." Neji grounded out, fists clenched, knuckles turning white.

Naruto whistled. " Aaw, c'mon Neji, it's not like he's gonna bite her. Sakura knows how to protect herself from unwanted attention."

" I'm not even sure if I'd like to meet him." Sakura said weakly. The unusual gut-feeling was getting stronger. " As far as I know he's just another actor."

" Don't worry Sakura-san, we're here to protect you when danger strikes!" Lee exclaimed, flashing her a sparkling smile and a thumbs-up.

" Your youth shall be protected at all times!"

Shikamaru simply nodded, but Sakura can bet anything that he muttered something within the lines of 'Tsunade's needs more protection if you ask me'.

" Tsunade-sensei, can you just pick somebody else?" Sakura asked exasperatedly, pointing a finger at the hundreds and hundreds of girls behind her. " I'm sure there's someone else sane enough other than me."

Tsunade gave an irritated snort, " Look at them. They're all love-sick puppies at this point. And I prefer a girl to do this job. I guess boys will simply have the urge to tear him apart."

" Good guess." Neji muttered, folding his arms across his chest, as soft lids covered his pearl eyes in annoyance.

" Well, why won't you do it yourself, Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura offered.

" I have my own reasons." She countered simply.

Sakura had no time to consider the situation. A barrage of screams erupted from the crowd, frantic limbs flailing around, trying to catch attention. She looked up at the school building—boys had poked their head through any available window to observe the scene below. She returned her gaze to the other end of the smooth cemented path just a few feet from her, where a long jet black limousine drove in a slow motion.

Tsunade gave her a quick though frantic nudge on her back, almost making her trip on her own feet. She heaved one steady breath to calm her pissed off nerves, and walked towards the limousine, which now pulled over to a complete stop. The expression of her irritation and slight anger still lingered on her face.

_**This is the last time I'm doing this. **_

She impatiently waited for a few seconds for someone to emerge—and someone did. The driver, wearing his traditional suit, got off the driver's seat and opened the car door infront of her.

The screams escalated into a higher level. She cringed at the sound.

Finally, the so-called Uchiha Sasuke stepped out of his car.

So did two other men in suits that can be a match for Hulk Hogan. (1)

He was dressed in a night-blue polo shirt, a few top buttons opened and sleeves rolled up a couple of inches below his elbow. Pants, and shiny polished shoes…but that's nothing to something else that he wore. He wore a deep scowl, his eyes twitching in annoyance. His dark onyx eyes swept over the lawns then to Sakura, who was waiting with what was left of her patience.

For a moment, Sakura thought he really looked like an icon. Well, he looked like a heart throb, so that counted… but that scowl banished all the good thoughts away. She felt him shift his gaze towards her, and for some unknown reason, his frown deepened even more. She tried to mask on a happy façade, but he spoke in his monotonous voice even before she could start.

" Hi, we—"

" Don't talk." He said. " You're annoying."

There were only three thin bands of her patience. The first one almost broke with his interlude. Oh wait, she meant **rude interruption**. The word interlude was an understatement. She tried to keep herself together and get this over with.

" You don't understand, I'm your—"

" I have enough fans claiming they are my biggest." He retorted.

So, he thought she was gonna say ' I'm your biggest fan!'. But in contrary, she wanted to tell him ' I'm your tour guide.' With the next statement, two of the three strings of patience snapped in an instant. Only one absolutely thin thread remained, and it as beginning to wobble dangerously.

" You. Don't. Understand. I. Don't—"

" I don't have time to give you any autographs, pinky." He said, shoving his hands down his pockets.

Something swelled heavily inside Sakura, slowly rising up at a dangerous rate. Her fists began to curl into tight balls, her knuckles turning pallid with pressure. Her once soft emerald eyes narrowed, swirling into a darker shade of hunter green, which usually happens when she was angered beyond relief. Her irritated expression molded into one of pure disgust and anger.

**Snap!**

There it goes… going… going… gone. Nothing left. Nothing to hold her down. Nothing to keep her from physically destroying something…

Now she knew who Uchiha Sasuke was. One big arrogant shit-head.

He **DID NOT** just called her pinky…

Was he implying on her pink hair?

Yeah, he was…

The people who heard this knew that they should probably back off to another corner of the world… not only was the girl pissed off, but so was 'they'… A growling Neji was being held off by the rest of the group, trying their best to restrain him. Naruto even threw himself onto his back just to weigh him down to his spot.

This was gonna get bad…

Haruno Sakura was extremely pissed off.

She had never been **extremely** pissed off.

**_YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! _**Her innerself had screamed, her unrealistic body striking a pose.

The Uchiha kid was clearly irked with the lack of answer. " What? Are you just gonna stare at me like that?" he asked out of irritation.

**BAM.**

He felt pain erupt on his right cheek. He also felt a small yet strong fist plant itself on his left cheek. He can also imagine a bluish-purple bruise form on his face. His precious face.

A hand shot out of his pocket to rest on his throbbing cheek, glaring holes at the person who did it. A girl. A frickn' girl.

" You… do you really want to suffer that much?" he muttered darkly, his tone of voice screaming danger over and over again.

Sakura gave him another heated glare. She turned around and stormed off, only to stop. She looked back at him.

" Welcome to Konoha High."

She walked off.

* * *

**Conversations in the comfort room…**

" Did you see that?"

" What?"

" Damn, are you stupid or something! Didn't you see what happened this morning!"

" I was late. I had to blow dry my hair. What's so important anyway?"

" You missed his grand entrance, Ayame! He's so hot!"

" Who's him?"

" Duh! Have you heard of Uchiha Sasuke-kun lately?"

" Oh my god! I though he was arriving this dismissal! This totally sucks. What did he look like?"

" You're being stupid, Ayame. What sane student comes to school during dismissal? Anyway, he's absolutely gorgeous, as always. But that wasn't the important part."

" So what is?"

" You do know Haruno Sakura, right?"

" Who wouldn't know that slut? Having all those boys following her around."

" What are you talking about? They're her best friends!"

" Oh, don't tell me your buying her sweet smiles, Miyuki."

" Don't be stupid, she's nice! Anyway, Tsunade-sensei asked her to welcome Sasuke-kun, you know, tour him around the school. But—"

" Don't tell me she accepted it! The nerve of that ho-bag!"

" You call her that once more, I'll tell them. She did accept it, she had no choice. Tsunade forced her into it actually. When he did arrive, she had mistaken Sakura as another fan girl and said so many usual fangirl stuff! You know, go away, I don't have time, and etcetera. I didn't know what he said next, but it really made her angry and hit him in his face!"

" No! She didn't!"

" Yeah, she did, though I really love Sasuke-kun and all, she was totally cool! Like a model slash hot-spy-agent!"

" I swear, she's gonna pay! Ruining Sasuke-kun's face like that!"

" What can you do? She's one hell of an kick-ass dolly, while you only have your large ass to deal with!"

" Who's side are you with, anyway?"

" I don't know."

" Damn, Miyuki don't be a skanky idiot!"

" HEY!"

**Conversations in the halls…**

" Dude, you should have seen it!"

" Why? What happened anyway?"

" Well, this morning, all of the girls got together in the lawns to meet the Uchiha guy in person. Only Sakura stayed behind, but she was called by the principal anyway."

" Oh, Haruno Sakura? The girl you had a monster crush on since the third grade?"

" Yeah, yeah, whatever. I really dunno what happened, but I heard Tsunade-sensei asked her to tour Uchiha around. But you know her gang, over protective and all. The rest of them agreed, but Hyuuga was all furious."

" Maybe he had a thing for her. That's not impossible."

" Dude. The girl is like his baby sister."

" Uh… yeah. So, what happened?"

" She tried to be polite, but he kept talking about fangirl crap. He must've thought Sakura was one. God, she was so pissed! Then he said something else, but most of us couldn't really hear. But I heard it was pinky or something—"

" Pinky? That's one of the nicknames her friends calls her when she was little! I used to call her pinky when we're in the 3rd grade. She hates it when people other than her group calls her that. And come to think of it, Uchiha didn't even know her yet."

" That's when she got so furious and punched him on the face! And damn, he looked pretty bummed out after that. Not to mention dangerous… but heck, what could he do?"

" Sakura's a girl and Uchiha is a boy. What do you expect?"

" Hiroshi, Haruno is one ass-kicking hottie. And besides, she got all her friends lined up behind her."

" Oh yeah. What can he do?"

Both stood there, thinking about endless possibilities.

**Conversations in the janitor's head quarters…**

" Boy, can that girl punch."

" Yeah."

Silence.

" I don't like Tsunade."

" Neither do I, my friend. Neither do I."

**Conversations in the principal's office…**

" That was… nice?" Tsunade muttered, still dazed by her nap earlier.

" Yeah. It was." She replied, her hands behind her back, her fingers fidgeting a little.

" But you do know that was unnecessary?"

" Uhm… yes, Tsunade-sensei."

" So you do understand why I have to give some kind of punishment?"

It took her some time to answer. " Hai."

" Well, right now, I couldn't think of anything yet…" Tsunade scratched the top of her blond hair, adjusting her position on her seat, " So, I'll let you know when I have finally decided."

" Yes, Tsunade-sensei. Am I free to leave?" she asked hopefully, her hand releasing it's twin, letting it fall on his sides.

" You may go."

* * *

She sighed. Maybe hitting Uchiha Sasuke was not a good idea after all. Judging by his looks and attitude, another fan club will be born, right here in this school. Well, at least that would mean the guy will suffer… that would be the consequence of taunting her with her childhood nickname.

She continued to trudge through the hall.

Her friends would be waiting for her at the park, at the tallest cherry blossom tree, where they first met when they were still children. Lee, who was the being obsessed with their childhood activities when they were still young, suggested that they visit their 'youthful past'. To tell the truth, she did missed that time when they did everything just to stop her from crying. It was cute…

Being lost in her thoughts had it's consequences as well. And those thoughts barging in and out of her mind dulled her awareness on where she was going. She assumed that the hall would be empty since it was way past their dismissal, but it seems one person had been enjoying the premises of having some time alone.

Her body collided painfully on another one, sending her tumbling down, her backside hitting the marbled floor.

She looked up.

What do you know?

It was the stoic bruise boy.

He glared down at her, as if enjoying the superiority between the two of them. Superiority his ass! Who was the one who got whopped anyway? Him. What kind of superiority was that?

He never bothered covering up his bruise with a dressing or something. Maybe he liked showing it off… weird guy he was.

She stood up, folded her arms across her hest, returned his glare and waited.

" Well, aren't you going to apologize or something?" she said haughtily.

Sasuke continued to look down at her. It drove her crazy. " You bumped in on me, gumball girly."

_**YOU ARROGANT PIECE OF --!**_

Sakura was about to retort his smart-aleck comment, when she stopped. Yeah, well, maybe it was her fault in the first place. If she hadn't been too preoccupied with her thoughts and paid more attention to where she was going, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe she should be the one to apologize…

_**HE CALLED YOU 'GUMBALL GIRLY'!**_

Feeling the need of company other than her raging innerself and this stoic unemotional bruise boy, she mumbled, " Sorry." then she began to walk off.

Yeah, well, she **_tried_**. She looked over at her arm, where she felt pressure. She saw a hand gripping tightly on her appendage, restricting her from going any further.

She shot him another glare, which had been a hobby ever since they met. " What? I already said I'm sorry."

He did not return the glare, but looked at the space across him. Then, he finally said something. " Why do you not go after me, just like those other girls?" he asked curiously, finally looking into her eyes.

He was met by a defiant stare. She replied hotly, " Because I'm not just 'another girl.' Now let go of me."

He obliged with her command.

She walked away.

And that's how they met.

* * *

**Author's final notes:**

I guess that's all of it… the meeting at the park part will be written at the next chapter. I hope that went well. Anyway, thank you all for your reviews! I appreciate it very much!

Anyway, I would be starting a new fic after this. If you ever know angel-sakura070 or angel-zakurah070 or zakurah or niXt3r… that would be me. Yup, I changed my pennames and deleted all of my stories… which makes me so stupid. I'll be rewriting 'Unplugged', only in a different title and the plot may be twisted a little bit. Only a little.

**Sakura Kage**, thank you so much girl! You're helping me get by every chapter! Oh, don't worry, late is never in the vocabulary of Sasuke x Sakura authors… we just enjoy the fluff! Really? (squeals) you do! Anyway, Kentarou needed some major ass-whipping, and I bet he'll be appearing in some chapters, just to get the fun started… well, she thought having a broken nose was bad enough, and she's a girl! Imagine what weapon of mass destruction Neji has… oh well. I also love how Tsunade turned out, I mean, c'mon Lee, I know you're obsessed with youth an everything, but saying those stuff to Tsunade! Damn, that would be hellish indeed. Yup, fangirls are described as fanatical whelps who had gone delusional. And, don't worry, they don't bite (pulls you out of your hiding place). Right? (fangirls: toooooooooo laaaaaaaaaaate biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttcccccccccccchhhhhhhh! ARF!) damn, forget it! Make some space, I'm going in! (hides in a corner)

I'll see you guys again with the next chapter! And I have a major writer's block over at 'Your Wish Is My Command'.

Bye!

_ang3Lix_


	5. When you found out cooking can be utterl...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its characters. Masashi Kishimoto rightfully owns them.

**A/n:** Good morning fellow patrons! Well, it's morning here in my country, at least. And were here, with chapter 5 lingering under our noses like freshly born baby poop.

Oh wait, I forgot! We passed the 50 review mark! Thankies to all reviewers!

Sorry if the update was kinda late, but I can't find internet access since my mom caught me red-handed using the internet without permission the last week… o-O

* * *

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

* * *

**Special thanks to the following people:**

**December Jewel** yup, I'm pretty random most of the times :D **SoraKoi The Water Goddess** thanks for adding me on your favorites! Hey, I remember uber pissed from Super gals! And those stupid tan-addicts… **darkphoenixsaga** oh, that's alright. I don't demand review anyway, but it really helps me out a lot :D thanks a lot! **Senko** yeah, I wanted to type out how they met as soon as possible! **Hao's Anjul** I think this is the longest I ever got to… and thanks a lot! I love Sakura who doesn't hesitate to give jackasses broken noses! Another random thought. **Trigemini** you're really helping me out a lot! Thanks so much! And I read your profile, it was awesome… I loved the quotes that you placed in there! **Dagorwen of Ithilien **thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it a whole bunch.** pInKie-chan **thank you! Here's the next chapter.** animEvivvErz **love your works! Please continue!** Phoe-chan **thanks for pointing that out! You're making my life a lot easier with your advices. Thanks a bunch! **Lady Snow Blood** thanks a lot, and I really mean it! **SasuSakuforeva-ilovesasuke** I feel for you! I mean, I already got a lot of shitty things about Sakura being put down by Sasuke, so, I mean, we gotta have girl power in here! And there goes Sakura's ultra bulldozer pretty girl punch! **LovEnEkO **that review blew me off girl! I really enjoy your reviews, they're so cute! Ah, you're che-che! Thanks for inviting me! uhm, are you, bye chance, a Filipino? Just asking! **rumiko14** more Filipinos! Try ko talaga, kasi nga may writer's block ako sa isa ko pang story, dito ko na muna binibuhos lahat ng excess time ko. Thanks sa review ha! **Unheard Symphony** thanks for reviewing, and I'll be rewriting it again soon enough! **Whatever** I love your review! I mean, c'mon, all of us, including you I hope, knows that the best way to get an author to update is by using threats. Take it from me. **Zane The Lazy Ass** I'm inlove with your review! I adore Big Bro Neji so much, it's kinda cute… and yeah, I love gumball girly… Sasuke is preoccupying himself with Sakura's hair color too much. **Yuugi-chan** I'm glad you find this cute! **Arandomreader** thanks a lot! Here's your update! **waterfox96** thanks for reviewing! **aNgeLoFdArknEssmaRie-chan** shucks! That was tiring! Ehem, thanks for reviewing! I gotta think about sasusakuneji though… I thought about it a while ago but I do put in the triangle, it has to be in the further chaps… thanks again! **nikki-14angel **I'm glad you think so! **Demon eyes14** thanks! Here's the next chapter. **Hatsukoi no Mamouri** Hey! It's been a long time! Oh, it's okay. No need for angry fanfiction gods with pitchforks (wind blows, gods get tossed away in a far away land). Thanks for reviewing! Well, Sasuke doesn't really have **concrete** feelings for Sakura, **yet**. He was just a bit curious, when he found out that it was possible for a girl to resist his so-called charms, more to that land a punch on his face. Thanks again! **Sakura Kage** damn, your right! WARNINGS rock! I am so lucky you're reading my fics! You give the most entertaining reviews! My god, I don't know what to do without you! The rest of my response to your overly lengthy review is in the bottom part. I don't know how I'll fit it all in a few sentences! **eisshi16** thanks a lot! Wow, first in a hundred!

* * *

**Love Story**

**By:** ang3Lix

**Chapter title:** When you found out cooking can be utterly dangerous in the hands of two teenage eye-candies

" _**I just don't want to be nice to this guy… he's rude, he's arrogant, he's self-centered…"**_

" _**Have you met him yet?"**_

" _**Psh, of course… erm… no."

* * *

**_

**New York, Thursday evening.**

It was their second meeting since that night they decided to meddle with their children's lives. They managed to convince themselves

that what they are about to do is for their children's good. The two couples decided to meet in a five-star hotel called China-Star, which the Haruno family owned.

After a few minutes, a black limousine pulled up infront of the main entrance of the hotel, another one following its trail. Yukari and Daisuke Haruno emerged from the first one, while Uchiha Shizuke and Suzuki got out of the second. Both exchanged smiles and greetings before they entered the massive glass doors of the main lobby.

On their way there, a woman dressed in a black skirt, white blouse and a coat, approached them. She had a pin fastened in the upper left side of her coat, indicating her position in the management.

" Good morning, Sir, Ma'am." She bowed courteously. " The conference room is ready for your use. This way, please."

" No thank you, Marianne, well just go over to the dining area. Please reserve our usual table." Yukari answered.

" Yes, right away, Ma'am."

* * *

**Konoha High, afternoon.**

Trouble. That's what you call the result when Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura clash together. Earlier that day, they had been in the same class during home economics, where they were supposed to have their project. The whole class were divided into pairs (by draw lots), and all of them didn't know if the Gods were meddling with fate, or something like that. Because Sakura had found her way to Sasuke, and Sasuke had found his way to Sakura as well. Inside the box were letters of the alphabet, two pieces for one letter. So that means, if one student got the letter 'a', she has to pair with the other one who got the other one. And unfortunately for the two of them, they both picked the letter 's'. (A/n isn't that a coincidence?)

So… what happened?

o-O-o-

" DAMN IT, DON'T YOU DARE! PUT THAT DOWN!" she shouted, getting more and more furious by the minute.

" Do you want us to be fried, you idiot? It's just a stupid—" one tried to retort, only to be cut off.

" THAT STUPID THING IS OUR HOMEROOM PROJECT!" she shouted frantically, trying to forcefully retrieve the… thing he was holding.

" Well, maybe if you had not been a complete idiot, maybe I can possible fix this in no time. You're so stupid." He growled.

Sakura's face darkened, her eyes flashing dangerously. Her furious gaze swept around the room, and settled at the something that lied innocently on one side of the corner.

**BAM.**

" Ouch—shit! What the f—!"

" WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO! SIT DOWN AND STARE AT THE PRETTY CLOUDS LIKE YOU DID? WE'LL GET ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IF I JUST SIT AROUND, YOU DUMB ASS!"

" If you just waited patiently, and maybe a little more quietly, I could have had the chance to correct this big shitty mistake!"

" WELL DO YOUR CORRECTING NOW, BECAUSE WE'LL EVENTUALLY SUFFOCATE IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING!"

" Well shut up for a sec, are you trying to kill me with your man voice?"

" YOU FRICKN'—"

He did what he had been thinking of. And because he was someone who hadn't even went to a kiddie summer camp in the woods to learn how to manipulate fire much better, it didn't do any relief—but made the problem much more worse.

" This… is stupid."

" YOU F!#?ING JACK ASS LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

" Let's get out of here."

" BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR PRO—"

" It's either that or a tea party with the devil." He spat bitterly.

" Damn it, fine! Just—"

" Just shut up and get out!"

o-O-o-

This was one of the most randomly stupid points of their life. After the whole commotion, both emerged hurriedly out of their kitchen area, hacking, coughing, whatnot… but most importantly, they came out of the scene entirely smudged, splattered, and splashed with the red chunky concoction that was supposed to be their sauce. Sakura's apron had been burned black at the end, a lock of her hair almost catching fire. She was obviously furious, throwing daggers at the guy beside her. Sasuke, on the other hand, had coal smudged on his face, when Sakura lost her precious temper and chucked him a big chunk of coal, hitting him right on his face. He too was infuriated; returning the glowers is partner was giving him. In his hand was a piece of cardboard, all wrinkly and bent with what they thought was excessive use.

" What happened here!" their teacher shrieked, gripping her hair in frustration. " Why are you two covered with sauce! Your shirt Sasuke, it's burnt black! Your face, what's that on your face… coal! Sakura, your… your hair, what happened to your hair! The apron—OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO THE KITCHEN!"

" I'm so sor—" she felt a hard nudge on her side. She growled under her breath. " I mean, **_we_** are so sorry, sensei." She mumbled.

" Oh my god… oh… my… god…" she whimpered, her eyes round like they have never seen before. Sensei had always been a calm woman, and never did they see her in this kind of state. "… water! Get me water!" she hollered, burying her face into her open palms. One student came hurrying towards her direction, a glass of water enclosed between her hands.

She gratefully took it in her hands and drained its contents. Every now and then, she would sigh, shaking her head. Most of the time, however, she would grip her hair in provocation, mumbling incoherent words. After 10 aggravating minutes, she partly recovered out of her shock and finally turned towards them.

" Explain." She said dramatically, her hand resting on her forehead.

Sakura started.

" Well, we were almost complete with the sauce we're supposed to do, but I forgot something from the cupboard. So I told Uchiha here to watch over the fire so I can get some salt. But because he's one hell of a slacker—"

" I did not slack off." He growled, setting a defiant stare in his eyes. Sakura merely snorted.

" –he forgot all about the food we were cooking. I really don't know what happened next, but when I got back, the pan was already engulfed by fire."

" I was thinking of putting the fire out," Sasuke grounded out, wiping some of the red sauce that strayed on his cheek, " but some idiot told me not to, because that's our **stinking** project."

" It probably was okay if you tried putting it out with **water**, but instead, you used our oh-so-great mind and decided to fan it out!" she retorted. " And in case you don't know, fanning it will only make the fire bigger!"

" What do you expect me to do! I don't know anything about fire, I didn't even go to a single kiddie camp!" he bit back, now facing her with his trembling form.

" You should have told me then! You're being stupid!"

" I could've explained further if you didn't throw me that chunk of coal **right-at-my-face**!"

" Who are you to talk! You almost burned my hair for god's sake!"

" Well, you burned my shirt, so don't complain about it, pinky."

" DON'T. YOU. DARE. CALL. ME. THAT."

" What? Pinky's too girly for you—"

" YOU FRICKN' J—!"

Sasuke felt a body collide heavily with his, driving his back right at the marbled floor. Oh, this was shit. Sakura had just tackled him on the ground. He finally decided that Haruno Sakura was a wild and uncontrollable young woman when very upset. He should have decided on that on the first day they met. The bruise on his face still stung like hell, thanks a lot. And now, he was considered the most poor and unfortunate soul to ever cross the school's halls. Sakura was upset, and add her disintegrated project grade and almost burnt hair with that, then it's officially hell.

Shouts, hoots and cheers were erupting from every mouth, though the two did not take notice of them. Her teacher was shrieking madly once more.

He didn't waste his time on rolling her on her back. So now, Sasuke was holding down a feral woman who's trying to beat the living shit out of him. She let out a stream of curses, loud enough for him to hear, but soft enough to not let the other people catch what she was saying. The more he tightened his grip on her wrists, the more she struggled to get herself free, the more she let out her curses.

" What the fuck is going on in here?"

Sakura looked up angrily.

Anger was replaced by both horror and surprise.

There, standing stiffly, was Neji.

And, he was **not** alone.

o-O-o-

So right now, here's the situation: Both Sasuke and Sakura were standing on both feet. Infront of the two were _them_. Around them were other students. On one side was their teacher who had clamped her mouth shut.

Sasuke looked at the group carefully. One white-eyed freak, one idiot-looking blond, a mutt-faced tattoo bearer, a silent shades boy, another lazy-ass, and a thick-browed bowl-cut weirdo. Though he had to admit, the same body physique as him. And he can also bet anything that each and every one of these men had fan clubs of their own.

" What the hell do you think you're doing, dude?" Naruto asked in both disbelief and anger. " No one messes with our Sakura-chan."

" I can mess with anyone I want." Sasuke said in his usual monotonous voice.

" Aren't we a stubborn little jackass?" Kiba snorted, cracking his knuckles noisily.

" Aren't we an arrogant little bastard?" Sasuke retorted, smirking his famous trade mark.

" I knew actors are troublesome little shits." Shikamaru glowered, his hands dug deeply inside his pants pocket.

" And so are lazy asses like you."

All the other students around were gaping in disbelief. That's just… amazing! Uchiha Sasuke was actually standing up to the hard core gang of Konoha High, and he wasn't even fazed by their smart-aleck remarks. It was obvious that he did not fear them at any cost.

" Don't be an idiot, Uchiha. Don't you dare lay one finger on Sakura." Neji growled, his curled fists shaking in fury. " Or else you'll regret it."

" Make me, Hyuuga."

How Sasuke knew his surname didn't faze the mind of Neji, who was beginning to form a strong enmity towards the Uchiha.

" You're just asking for an ass-kicking."

" I know. Or maybe it could be your ass being kicked in the end."

" Fucker."

" Shit head."

**GLARE.**-

" Neji." Someone called in a low tone.

" What is it, Sakura?" he snarled at her, directing his smoldering glare at the girl.

Was he ever surprised when her eyes held a minuscule sense of importance.

" Remember your promise."

Neji looked away, practically angered when he heard the statement. But then again… can he refuse? He knew how to keep his word until the very end. And he was not planning to start now. He damned that promise to hell. He cursed himself for agreeing to her terms. He scolded himself for letting that kind of proposition pass through his standards. But can he do something? Can he do something when the

person who requested it was the girl whom he considers as his younger sister? Of course not.

" Fine." He mumbled, shoving his hands inside his pockets once again. " Fine…"

" You're lucky, Sasuke-bastard. Thank Sakura-chan one time, will ya?" Naruto said, turning his back on him, heading towards the other direction. Did he just noticed, that he just blessed him with a taunting nickname? Maybe not. He also didn't notice Sasuke wince with what Naruto called him.

They were about to move out when suddenly, as quickly as they started, they stopped. All of them looked back, with the exception of the Hyuuga.

" What are you waiting for, Sakura? Come." Neji spoke up, his back still facing her. And though he did, he could feel a smile creep its way on her lively face.

Even with a burnt apron (which she already took off), disheveled pink locks and sauce-spattered clothes, she still looked absolutely gorgeous in everyone's eyes.

And even though one person didn't want to admit it out loud, his mind was at least entertaining the idea.

Care to guess who?

* * *

**New York, after approximately 15 minutes:**

" So… let me get this straight." Yukari said slowly, her fine brows knitted together in confusion. " All this is just a big joke on our children?"

After a few minutes, they made their way towards the restaurant that was stationed inside the hotel, where they headed towards the table Marianne reserved for them a while ago.

" Of course! Isn't it great?" Daisuke said, a childish grin spread across his handsome features. His grin ceased a bit when both women were not answering at all.

" Do you two know, in any case, that this plan both of you thought of might make Sasuke and Sakura hate us for all eternity?" Suzuki asked them, trying to point of the very obvious.

" Aaw, c'mon, it's just a little joke. They won't take it too seriously." Shizuke assured everyone. Then he added hastily, " I think."

" So here's what were gonna do." He started, leaning towards the table. " We tell them that they are engaged. And since they are, they will stay inside one house, no maids, no servants, no fancy garden keeper. That should teach them how to work things out."

" Wait. You two never told us that!" Suzuki said, her left hand wringing her wrist in anxiety.

Shizuke looked a little nervous. He, being Yukari's closest friend, knew that the pink-haired woman had a very thin band of patience. When they were still in high school, there had been one time that he had been the unfortunate soul that caused one of her outbursts. He still couldn't forget all about it. " Erm… Daisuke and I thought about that last bit last night…" he said hastily, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

" Anyway, we already looked up a house, about a few kilometers away from there school. It's already furnished and large enough for the two of them." Daisuke explained, supporting his best friend.

" See? So that's done. Now, since we still have our conscience in check, after 3 months, we tell them this is all a big joke, and they are not going to marry each other at all. That way, Sasuke turns into a normal warm-blooded person, and Sakura turns into a young refined lady. Plus, they won't get **_entirely_ **furious with what we did. See how perfect this plan is?" Shizuke said excitedly.

" Except for the tiny fact that they might **figure-it-out**." Yukari grounded out.

" I have… a back-up plan for that." Daisuke said slowly, trying to calm down her temperamental wife.

" What?"

" It's… um… something that I haven't thought about yet." Daisuke admitted.

" What if they don't agree? Are we just gonna force them?" Suzuki asked, trying her best to cover up all the loopholes in the plan. If they were gonna work this thing out, they should at least perfect it with no flukes or whatsoever.

" Hmmm… you're quite right about that, Suzu…" Shizuke muttered, his brows knitted together in concentration. How he managed to get an idea coming within a few minutes was just out of the group's league.

" We can tell them we'll tow away all their belongings—that includes houses, private jets, private beach houses, restaurants and so on." He suggested.

" Yeah… Sakura couldn't bear being away from her best friends, so that means she doesn't have any choice." Daisuke mused.

" So, everyone agrees?" Shizuke asked, looking at each face.

The two women looked predominantly skeptical. But soon enough, their cynical expressions soon upturned into ones of defeat.

" Fine."

" Okay! The day after tomorrow, we fly to Japan!" Daisuke shouted energetically, pumping a fist up in the air.

* * *

**A/n** I am so sorry, I promised you guys that the cherry blossom tree thing will be written in this chapter. And the promise Sakura was talking about was supposed to be in the cherry blossom tree thing. I'm so sorry, but I had to do a lot of damned stuff. Sorry again!

I promise it'll appear next chapter.

And I think the Hinata and Tenten meets Sakura might be postponed a little. Sorry!

The full house idea is starting to come into the picture. So that means more fluff!

**Sakura Kage** uhm… why do I have a feeling that you find happiness in Sasuke-bashing? Well I do! I mean, come on! We already know how excessively powerful the guy is! Let himself experience a world class punch in the face! And I absolutely agree on Sakura doing the punch thing, because she really deserved the chance to bash him. (gasp) you are right! You, girl, makes the longest reviews I have ever seen. The restraint thing had to be there, because she was representing the whole school right? It wouldn't be a nice thing for the school if she suddenly snapped. If I was Sakura too, I'll make sure Sasuke sees his ancestors in heaven, but I'm not, so… there goes my Sasuke-bashing chance! Ayame is one damned bitch. And her face should be rubbed off the face of earth. But to think of it… will the fact that the two hate each other matter to their parents? Their fathers might think it's much more fun that way! Wait! I want a Naruto bishounen! Gi'mme gi'mme gi'mme!

**eisshi louisse/ eisshi 16** nina, there are ways to get more reviews, you know XD! First off, refrain from putting up chapters at the same time you created the story. For example, you created the fic today. Don't, never, not in the world of sane people, upload 5 chapters in that very moment. See, readers wouldn't bother reviewing every chapter if you already written 5 of it, instead, they tend to leave a review at the very last chapter. Second, it's the summary. You have to make sure it's interesting, a brief explanation of what the story is about, and the pairings. DON'T FORGET THE PAIRINGS! In the genre of romance, kailangan talaga na ilagay mo yung pairings kasi may taong ayaw ng shounen-ai or something like that, or may readers ayaw ng Ino X Sasuke. And then, there's the content of the story. Though kung hindi ka pa sanay sa writing, you have to do your best to improve and use the proper words. Anyway, in writing, reviews are not that important. It's the fact that you enjoy what you're doing and makes the best of it. Ang reviews ay mga opinions lang ng readers, though there are also advices if the reader is really willing to help. Take it as constructive criticism.

Anyway, please read! (and review if you have time)

Bye!

_ang3Lix._


	6. Surprise, surprise: Sasuke enters the te...

Disclaimer: Naruto was never in my possession. Masashi Kishimoto rightfully owns it.

**A/n** I just watched another episode of full house, the Korean novella that inspired this story. Unfortunately, the series is about to end, and… oh well. You guys could be my inspiration! Thanks a lot for keeping up with this!

Here's the next chapter, and as promised, here comes the cherry blossom tree incident and the promise thing, plus a little something that was mentioned in the earlier chapters. Enjoy, y'all!

We just reached the 100 review mark! Thankies to all reviewers and readers, I love you all! Thanks for your constant support!

**Summary**: What exactly should a romantic story be? Must there be damsels in distress and knights in shining armor? Must there be a slave who yearns true love, and a prince who takes her away from her cruel fate? Yes, many stories of love is nearly like a fairytale, ending happily ever after. But this one… is not one those.

A showbiz heart throb. A perfectly gorgeous and rich girl. What a wonderful fairytale ending it would be.

WRONG.

For this one moment in a life time, hell will break lose.

Are you ready?

You'd better be.

* * *

**Special thanks to the following people:**

**CaTzPoSt, Ayane Selznick, nixxie1430, eisshi16, animEvivvErz, December Jewel, Arandomreader, maur, Hao's Anjul, Senko, iluvanime493, albaloo, Princess Sakura Haruno, demoneyes14, waterfox96, fu5ionist, chokuro**

**SoraKoi The Water Goddess** thanks for the long review! I'm happy you thought this was very entertaining. About being descriptive, it's like this: I try to put more meat on the bones. I mean, a story isn't a story if you don't make it a little wordy, right? Oh, was that in Filipino language? Maybe it's supposed to be 'Mahal ko ang love story'! Thanks a bunch!

**Phoe-chan** the 'oh shit' reaction it is then! Although I think that part should be shoved into further chapters because in my opinion, Sasuke doesn't really fear anyone that quick. Oh, please, I'd love some critiques and advices! Yours helps me a lot, so keep it coming :D Thanks for pointing that out! I still fumble around words a lot. I felt really uh… giddy! Thanks for the compliment! Thanks again!

**Darkphoenixsaga** I'm happy you loved the gang. They have gone really over-protective (in a good sense), which made Sakura less shy and more fiery. Guess who taught Sakura how to punch and tackle!

**Trigemini** oh my god, thanks for your review! I was so happy when I read it! Gave me more inspiration! Hey, who wouldn't want more inspiration, anyway? I thought the punch thing was getting really old :D and judging by Sasuke's skills, (both in anime and in this fic) that when you hit him once, he would be able to dodge it the second time around. And Sasuke blocking Sakura's hit is one big spoiler. The group just appears at the perfect times, right? (laughs) they're so adorable! Neji was the most reactive among the rest… does that mean…? Though the scenario of pure loathing and bad things was perfect, I think Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't go to the extent of heaving each other's heads on silver plates… major bickering, shouting, screaming, of course, but killing isn't really necessary. How will we get some fluff if they kill each other, right? XD!

**Cerella** thanks a lot for the advice! I'll do my best to improve my writing. Wow, really? That's so cool! I was a tad bit interested about creative writing, but I love journalism. I still have a lot of years of hard work in graduating high school. Thanks again, and I really appreciate your help.

**aNgeLoFdArknEssmaRie-chan** uhm, about the triangle, there are already a few people requesting for it, but I'm still not sure about it… but it's certain that this will end up as sasu x saku.

**LovEnEkO **I'm glad you liked that chapter. Wow, another Filipino! We pinoys are numerous in here… about the ideas, I'd love some! I have a bunch of them in my head, but I think it won't really last dead on. I would really appreciate them!

**Joekool** hey! Thanks for reviewing! About that one, Naruto is most likely to end up with… who else? Hinata of course! And Neji, even though it's quite off in this fic, might end up with Tenten in the end. Shikamaru with Ino? I mean, Shika is still lazy and Ino is still a loud annoying girl in this fic, so I guess it's still alright! XD

**scorpion05** well, Sasuke is like… let's say, a spoiled kid, and doesn't know how to cook since he's a star and all. He knew Neji because their group is really really really really famous in their school for being the ass kicking persons that they are. Even one day in the school, he's bound to hear something about them, especially if it was their dear little pink haired friend who whopped him. Thanks for the review!

**pink-LaLa02** oh, thanks for adding me! and you deleted most of your fics? That's too sad, I adored your fic, Cast Away! What's your name in your account? Oh, ignore the cuss words in there XD I was totally furious when I wrote that! You know how life is. So, thanks again for reviewing!

**Doctor Meowzie** thank you so much for that review! And yeah, I checked out your story, expression is the title, right? And I reviewed too. Uhm… yeah, Xoni Newcomer's advice was for the best, so, I hope you have lots of good luck! Don't worry, your story rocks, maybe a little more meat on the bones will help! Wish you lots of good luck for your upcoming stories!

**Zane The Lazy Ass** oh my… someone needs major counseling in here! XD oh god, you don't know how much your review made me grin! Okay… my sister was already giving me weird looks already. Oh pshucks… chemistry isn't really my thing. Likely, I would have done the same thing you and your friends did, only intentionally. I try to get a little bit more wordy so the readers would understand what was really going on, because when I read a fic, I visualize it, and I get really rankled when I can't because the story is too plain! So, before your sanity finally slip out of your whole system, here's the next chapter!

* * *

**Love Story**

**By: **ang3Lix

**Chapter title: **Surprise, surprise: Sasuke enters the team!

" **_Haruno Sakura: Late. Again. What the hell is wrong with you, girl! That's the second time around! I can't let the MVP of the girl's varsity team slack off!"_**

" _**Coach, there's something I have to tell you."**_

" _**Shoot."**_

" _**It's important and I think you won't like it if I shout it out in here."**_

_**--after a few moments—**_

" _**WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THE TEAM!"

* * *

**_

" What exactly happened in there, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his curiosity getting better of him.

Sakura was tired, upset, angered and totally drained out. And so because of this, she was too exhausted to narrate the whole story of the fire accident. She shook her head in reply, a look locked on her face that said 'too-tired-to-explain'. She dragged her feet through the hall, trying to recoup her strength, knowing that Zabuza's training was enough to let you die out of exhaustion. Only the players with strong stamina were able to wobble back to their benches after the session.

Neji, who had been completely silent along the way, had been swimming through his thoughts. Uchiha Sasuke was definitely someone who's different. He was sure that even in a student's first day of school, that person is certain to know something about their group. And Sasuke was no exception. The fact that he knew Neji's surname was one proof that he had heard of them. If that was so, that would mean Sasuke didn't fear them at all. And for a person who had gotten himself into constant fights with Sakura, this was not good. Even though he had been thinking it through, he can't help but smirk.

_Maybe this time, it will be more interesting than before._

But, even though he wanted nothing but to beat the crap out of Uchiha, he knew he couldn't do it. Maybe the proper term was **not allowed to**. Why? Not because he's scared. Hyuuga Neji was never scared of anyone, mind you. It's just that… Sakura made him—no, all of them, swear that they would not lay one finger on him. They didn't know why, but all she said was that—

" **_I was the one who started it! My conscience wouldn't bear it if you guys just come along and beat him into a bloody pulp. It wouldn't be fair!"_**

Just thinking about it made him want to hurl. Sakura never showed any mercy to arrogant guys like that! But, she's right. She started all of this. She was the one who gave Uchiha a world class bruise in the face. So Neji shouldn't be concerned about the whole thing. But the problem is, he couldn't ignore the fact that somebody is out there, ready to face Sakura one-on-one, without their back-up.

" _**Wait. Are you… falling for that guy?"**_

_**Oh god. A mistake. A taboo question. Forbidden topic.**_

" **_What do you think? Am I falling for I guy in this state of hatred and pure loathing?" she said mockingly, folding her arms across her chest, sitting on the soft ground Indian-style._**

" _**Oh yeah." **_

Neji smirked once again. Sakura? Falling for a guy like him? Impossible. But… Sakura is still a girl, right? And what kind of girl doesn't find that Uchiha boy… erm… how will you call it? Charming? He remembered one time when they even doubted Sakura's feminism. That was a completely unnecessary thing to do. They knew Sakura was 100 girl; she just didn't like men. Because in her eyes, they are lying, filthy, disorganized, lazy pieces of scum that littered earth. Well, with the exception of her friends and her dad, of course.

" **_No." Neji said firmly, averting his gaze towards other things to escape that look Sakura was shooting him. He, as well as the others, was a sucker for those eyes of hers, even though she wasn't pulling off that cute-puppy-dog look. " What the heck will we do if this gets out of hand?"_**

_**Sakura, who sensed the slight concern in his voice, grinned, " You guys taught me how to kick sorry butts. I wouldn't mind kicking a few more, you know." **_

It was the six of them who taught her how to stand up for herself. To be strong, and that it doesn't matter what other people think, it's what you think that matters most. It was when they were about thirteen years old when she first retaliated with a punch. In their younger years, all she did was ignore them, ignore, ignore, ignore… leaving the boys to shoot the infuriating playmates warning glares that could scare away bull dogs. The first ever victim of this pretty-girl-punch was a girl, who's name was Ami, the one who always had her back-up friends standing by her side. She was one snotty little midget who did nothing but to tease Sakura about her not-so-average forehead. Neji and the others hid behind a bush, deciding that once this got out of hand they would spring out of nowhere and do the talking. But for now, they waned to see if Sakura can really handle situations like these.

" **_Yeah, yeah, she's right! Oh man, the look on that bastard's face! That should be worth a lot."_**

" **_Beyond priceless."_**

It was the normal taunting. Forehead-girl. Frail, weak, coward. Always hiding behind someone else's back. But then… there came the word. The word that became the new taboo in the history of Konoha High.

" **_What? Go on, cry! That's all you do anyway! You and that pinky hair of yours--"_**

All Ami knew was that she felt her skull being thrown backwards, her facial muscles bloating on the impact. She was sprawled on the ground, a hand covering her bulging cheek, her eyes wide with disbelief. When she looked up to meet Sakura with an angry stare, she immediately regretted the gesture. Because she changed. She was transformed. She was different. That new spark in her eyes made Ami even more surprised—even more afraid. With that, she ran. And her little back-up girls scurried behind her.

" **_So, you promise?" she asked, the seriousness in her voice added pressure on her words. _**

" _**Yes."**_

" _**Fine, as long as you call us when it gets out of hand.."**_

" _**You have my word, Sakura-san!"**_

" _**Hey, wait, you have mine too!"**_

" **_Damn troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, his eyes closed with the thought. _**

" _**Neji-san?" **_

**_He gazed at her with the slightest sense of skepticism. But in the end, he nodded in approval._**

" _**Fine. I promise."**_

" _I promise."_

' _I promise.'_

_I promise._

I promise.

" I promised."

" What?" she asked.

**_Damn._**

" What did you say?" she asked again.

" Nothing."

" Oh. Okay then."

They continued walking, as all of them receive unwanted attention, stares, looks, and everything else associated with ogling. Sakura, who had a small similarity with a pasta dish (with all that sauce on her clothes), earned enough of them and was getting rankled by the continuing whispers and comments. She looked over at her watch.

" We better hurry up guys, we only have fifteen minutes to change." She noted, tearing her gaze away from her wrist to where she was going. She didn't want any accidents just like the one she had yesterday.

After a few minutes, they found themselves standing before a closed door. Inside, they could hear a lot of shuffling and squealing. Well, it was normal, because they just stopped infront of the girl's locker room. And for the fact that they were drop-dead gorgeous boys—wait, don't forget that they were **boys**, they didn't want others to think that they were planning on doing something… not right. Sakura, who had been their friend for a long, long time, already knew their behavioral patterns. She stifled a laugh.

" You guys wanna come in?" she asked innocently, jabbing a thumb over at her shoulder, " I'm sure there's a lot of space."

Red streaks tainted their faces with her last statement. " Very funny." Neji said sourly.

She chuckled heartily. " Okay, okay, I'll stop. Sheesh, boys… Anyway, I'll see you guys later, okay? Don't be late! Coach will beat the crap out of you all."

" We'll see you later, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved childishly, as all of them began to walk away, the scarlet that once occupied their cheeks growing fainter.

* * *

Sakura grasped the metal doorknob and opened it in one turn. The moment she stepped inside the room, her teammates had moved away from their respective lockers and bustled towards her. They tried to say something, but with each mouth spouting out a different sentence, it all came out as a confusing blur.

" What? What's wrong?" Sakura asked them when she reached her locker that was lined up beside theirs.

" Hey, we heard all bout your little feud with Sasuke a while ago. Are you okay?" Hiroaki Aiko asked, checking Sakura's arm for any traces of burns or bruises.

" You know, Uchiha might be cute and all, but god, going on top of you like that! That's just sick!" Miki exclaimed seriously, fumbling with her locker key.

Sakura's orbs narrowed in surprise, as she let out a nervous laugh. " It's really not what you think. I… well, I _**tackled** _him, but…" she tried

to explain, but their shocked expressions just kept her from telling them the whole truth. Come to think of it, in a certain angle of the story, she kind of appeared to be the one who's bad. She sighed.

" Forget it." She mumbled, grabbing her jersey and entering a dressing room afterwards.

When she got out of the dressing room, she made her way towards the girls, only to find out that they already moved out of their lockers and entered the gym. Being late is the last thing she wanted, so she immediately stuffed her clothing inside her locker. After making sure nothing's out of place, she went out and made her way through the hall.

She was about to reach the end of the hall when a group of girls moved out from a particular room and stood infront of her, as if blocking her passage. Sakura rolled her eyes in irritation. Every girl in the group was wearing a pink shirt that hugged their bodies pretty tightly,

Awhite fringed miniskirt, and a pair of two-inch high-heels. Some of the girl's hair were drawn into a high pony tail, curling at the bottom, while the others had their hair in low pig tails, which was curled artificially, bobbing up and down in every move. But what surprised her most was the name that ran across their pink shirt in black, bold, fancy lettering.

_**I heart Sasuke-kun!**_

Oh god.

She knew exactly who they are.

Stoic bruise boy's league of disgraced fanatical supporters.

In a much more simpler terms: Uchiha Sasuke's fan club.

Sakura groaned. What did they want now? If this little meeting extend in any way, she would, for the second time, be late for their training sessions. And she knew very well that Zabuza-sensei never had tolerance for slackers. Not that she was one.

_**Patience. Patience. Just have some frickn' patience!**_

" Can I help you?" she asked politely, though inside, she was stubbornly regretting giving them any ounce of respect.

One of them, probably their leader, broke through the clump of girls standing infront of her, as if trying to make a grand entrance. She had flowing dark hair, sharp eyes and her face overly applied with all kinds of cosmetic products. But there she was, smirking at her, while the others were merely looking at her sourly. This particular woman had a sense of superiority in her possession.

" Well… if it isn't Haruno Sakura." She sneered, saying Sakura's name as if it was a common piece of garbage. " She's so pretty, don't you think, girls?" she said in her fake sweet tone, while her 'friends' snickered snobbishly.

_**LET ME AT HER, THAT ASSHOLE BI—**_

" Can I help you?" she said through gritted teeth, trying to remain calm and impassive.

" Cut it out with that fake courtesy of yours." She spat, looking extremely disgusted. " I, Watanabe Ami, know what kind of slut you are. Going around with the most gorgeous boys in this school, did you actually think you can hide it from me?" she continued, folding her arms across her chest.

**_YOU DIRTY, SKANKY, SLUTTY BITCH! I'M GONNA BITE YOUR HEAD OFF, YOU—_**

If you ever knew what kind of boiling anger that lay dormant inside Sakura's deepest, most secretive side, you would know these kinds of words will certainly spell death.

" What did you—?"

" And now you are getting on with that slutty attitude of yours and set your eyes on **_our_** Sasuke-kun?" she asked indignantly, malice dripping in every word. She stood back, waiting for any kind of response.

Surprisingly, Sakura snorted.

It quickly evolved into a soft laugh, her musical voice bouncing on every wall.

Ami's posse, who were now looking back at her with fear, took a tentative step back. They must be thinking she was beginning to turn delusional or something.

" You're jealous?" Sakura asked, still chortling softly.

Ami's eyes grew darker as red color piled up in her face. She did not accept the fact that Sakura was just laughing a her tauntingly, while she was in full blast with her anger. No way will she let her be all cool about this while she's acting like a sore loser. Sakura already gave her a nastily swollen cheek when they were still high-school freshmen, and she also took away Ami's title of being the school's resident hottie. She's connected with all the hottest guys in school… then what the heck is left for Ami then? Absolutely nothing.

Sakura saw this reaction, and knew what was about to happen. As expected, she spotted a hand coming closer to her face. Ami was doing a clumsy attempt of slapping her across the face. In pure reflex, Sakura caught her wrist and held it tightly, a taunting smile gracing her pinkish lips.

Predictably, other girls gasped both in fear and surprise.

" Fine. You want to have a go on Neji, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino and Lee? Fine. Go hog that bastard, Sasuke, for all I care. But hear this out Ami, and hear this out good." Sakura said, her tone beginning to turn threatening.

" Sure, you want one of my bestfriends. But, as long as I am here, no bitch slap like you is gonna take one step towards them. They deserve far more better than some common piece of garbage, Ami." She said, her words filled with venom of every kind. " That goes for all of you." She tossed the others a look of warning. They cowered back.

Ami's features grew even more darker with fury. Her enclosed wrist forgotten, she swung her left hand for another slap, but it landed on the same predicament as the other. Ami began to sneer at her, smirk at her. " What? You're turning to an over-protective little sister now? That's pathetic."

Sakura shrugged indifferently, her nonchalant behavior continuing it's taunting at the girl infront of her. She released Ami's wrists and threw it down a little too harshly.

" I don't have time for you. I guess I'll see you all around some other time." Sakura said, walking past her, as if all of this was just a simple exchange of greetings and not a verbal bitch slap Ami herself started.

She walked away, as the group of trembling girls parted, leaving a large space in between for Sakura to pass through.

Inside, Sakura was pretty amused by all these.

She never knew threats would come in handy.

Now, she knew.

* * *

_I'm late. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late. _She chanted in her mind, running through the cemented path.

**_I don't mind being late if it means kicking Ami's big bloating ass. _**Her innerself grumbled, slouching off to one corner of her little world.

Being a little bit schizophrenic was okay for Sakura, but if your inner voice turned out to be another conniving little demon, she had some tough luck following her around. Deciding that answering back to herself was not a smart move with her situation, she dashed through. Soon enough, the large gym decided to show itself to her eyes. She stopped in front of the door. Breathing in, she prepared herself for the worse. But really, maybe it should have been her ears she prepared, because the moment she stepped inside the gymnasium, a loudhailer was already stationed right on her face.

" WHY ARE YOU LATE!" he roared.

The impact of the loud voice magnified even louder with the megaphone knocked Sakura out of her balance and made her stumble a couple of steps back. 'Surprise' was clearly spelled right there on her expression.

" HARUNO SAKURA, TEAM CAPTAIN OF THE GIRL'S BASKETBALL VARSITY TEAM, MVP PLAYER ON THE GIRL'S DIVISION, EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!" he roared some more. She considered taking a couple of steps backward. This was going to get pretty angsty…

" Uhm… let's just say I got into a little bit of girl fight." She stated uncertainly, now pointing to the far side of the gym where another emergency exit was stationed. In came the girls in pink, their heels clicking noisily in contact of the smooth floor. Half of them were still sporting terrified appearances, while the other half were positively furious—Ami had such influence on them.

Sakura smirked when she caught their attention. Half of them bravely shot her looks of deepest loathing, while the rest scurried over the remaining bleachers, trying their hardest to avoid any eye contact.

" WHAT ABOUT THOSE GIRLS WITH PINK GET UPS THAT LOOKS LIKE BIG COTTON CANDY FLUFFS?" he hollered, earning multiple glares coming from the said group. He ignored it all the way.

" It's nothing, really, Zabuza-sensei. Just a small conversation." She assured him, though she knew very well that her assurance never even fazed the mind of her monster coach.

" You're lucky I don't like those idiots up there. Squealing, shrieking piles of rat droppings." He grumbled, more to Sakura's surprise. " They always get in the way of the team's training. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK!"

" Okay, okay, sensei… sheesh." Sakura muttered, then walking away to join her team in their warm-up exercises.

She was already on her 30th sit-up when four dark shadows loomed above her, blocking the bright lighting. She opened her tired eyes to see Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru crouching beside her, while Neji stood, looking down at the whole scene. Sakura, deciding that the rest of the team already warmed up well enough, instructed them to take a three-minute break.

She let herself drop on the smooth floor, while the others sat beside her.

" You were the one who told us not to be late." Neji muttered, looking up at the students huddled in the bleachers.

It was then that Sakura noticed something. " Hey. What's with those poker faces?" she asked, noticing the dull expressions that they had.

" What happened, Sakura-chan? Did you get in some trouble with those girls?" Naruto asked, his voice kind of meek and gentle.

" Why are you all so down?" she asked them.

" You look exhausted." Shikamaru noted, and thank god, still as lazily as she expected.

" What's wrong?" she asked yet again. By now she was getting fed up with all of them avoiding the subject.

" I never liked them, they look like prostitutes in this angle—" Kiba pointed out, but soon to be cut off.

" Don't avoid the subject!" She shouted furiously, leaving the group of boys startled with her outburst. " You either tell me now, or I will have to use **force**."

Whatever kind of force that was, it clearly was a devastating one, because it certainly made such impact on the others. Kiba began muttering a few swear words, Shikamaru finally broke out of that dazed expression (which was nearly impossible to do so), Neji's left eye began to twitch, while Naruto was about to stand up, probably making a run for it, but Sakura got a strong hold on his jersey and gave it a world class lurch that made him fall on his butt.

" Well?" she said, trying to lengthen her patience.

" Sakura-chan… we didn't want to be the one to tell you, but since we are stuck, fine, we will." Naruto muttered slowly, his fingers doing a lot of fidgeting. " You see, Soichiro got into a little bit of trouble with our chemistry prof, and he had a three month ban from playing basketball. So Zabuza-sensei had no choice but to find a replacement."

" Heh. Momochi-sen did accept the ban, but he made sure Hoshi's eardrums were good as dead." Kiba said, almost laughing at the thought.

Before he bursted into loud laughter, Naruto continued. " When we got here for training, coach told us to assemble ourselves because he had some news. He told us that a member was already chosen for the vacant spot. Then he called **_him_** in."

" Who's him?" Sakura asked indecorously, looking around for someone new in the team.

" Well… you know, him!" Naruto urged, wanting nothing else but to say the name. Because saying the 'name' would mean him on the brink of his existence.

" Who's him?" She asked again, completely missing the point.

Naruto sighed. He rigged up a determined look on his face and took a deep breath. " U—"

It all came to a complete halt when Sakura released a loud swear word that was enough for the whole gymnasium to hear. Naruto considered the thought of Sakura finding out who it was. But he was clearly wrong. She sat right there, her arms infront of her face, an ball enclosed inside her open palms. It seemed that somebody just threw a ball right at her face, and of course, with her awesome reflexes, she caught it with ease. But because of that certain swear word, it seemed that the ball was thrown a **little too hard**.

" What the heck—!"

" Nice. Who would have thought someone as frail as you would be a team captain?" a voice sneered.

She stood up, dusted the imaginary lint that covered her shorts and took hold of the ball in a firm grasp. She advanced a few steps. There, standing before her within a few feet, was him. Uchiha Sasuke. Seeing him with the same jersey as her was a bit degrading for her inner self.

**_That's shit!_** her inner being turned to her. **_Now can we kick his ass? _**She growled, cracking her non-existent knuckles.

_That's really tempting._

Sakura placed the ball between her hip and her arm, pinning it on place. She placed a finger on her chin: fake thinking.

" Hmm… frail? Let's see. Who's the person in here got whopped on by a woman?" she said loudly, letting her voice be carried away towards the bleachers. The boys snickered. The girls scowled (with the exception of the team). Sensing their presence, she continued. " Who in here got **knocked down** by a woman?"

The boys snickered loudly. The girls scowled more. Soon, this will not only be Sakura and Sasuke's fight, but a war between girls and boys. Because Sakura had such a big influence on boys, and Sasuke had the power to control girls, this will soon evolve into something bigger.

" So." She continued, a mischievous grin formed on her lips. With a flick of the wrist, the ball came soaring through the air and landing on Sasuke's hands, making him stumble back a step. " Who's frail now?"

" One on one, Sakura." He dared, smirking down at her. " I'll be on defense, you'll be on the offense. Up for it?"

She smirked as well. " Fine. But I'll make you regret you ever said that."

They positioned themselves in the center of the court. Neji and the others, though concerned in every way imaginable, stood to watch. They knew Sakura could get through this. She wasn't an MVP player for nothing.

" Ready?" Sasuke asked tauntingly.

" If you are." She answered back in the same way.

There was a pause.

" Bring it on." They chorused.

* * *

" STOP THIS, RIGHT NOW!" a voice shouted.

And no, it was not Zabuza.

* * *

" STOP THIS, RIGHT NOW!"

All of them turned to where the voice came from. In came a deathly silence. All of them either stood or sat rigidly as ever.

Here she comes…

The only teacher who can match Zabuza's ear-crushing temper.

Right there, standing on the space between the two students who remained calm, was her.

Tsunade.

* * *

Two couples sat down on posh cushioned seats.

They looked out of the window, the runway of the plane still visible.

" Ready?" one man asked them all.

" Yeah."

" Let's go."

A raven-haired man spoke through his cellphone. " We're ready."

_**Please make sure your seatbelts are in place. Take off will be within five minutes.

* * *

**_

**A/n **aaah. The classic cliff-hanger. Try to kill me, then you got no next chapter! Urgh. Gotta work on my evil laughter.

The revelation is very near! (insert evil laughter here)

And, I'm really sorry if this is not a very funny chapter. I just can't insert any here. I think the mood of this chapter is kind of… daring?

Please read! (and review, if you have the time, or if you feel you just got to.)

_ang3Lix. _


	7. the moment of torture

Love Story: Chapter 7

The moment of torture: here come the parents.

0

1

2

3

…

**Playing**.

" The moon is a heavenly body, floating gracefully into space. It is strong and domineering, yet fragile when gazed upon." The science professor of Konoha High whispered dramatically, waving a hand in a gesture. " Now, let us listen to Hiro as he explains all about the moon."

A tall, boy-next-door teenager with a gorgeous face strutted towards the front of the class, where a new OHP stood in the middle of the white, roll down screen. He clutched several books that were twice the size of his head. As he stood in the most comfortable position in front of the class, he pulled out a pair of glasses from his pockets, and then placed them on.

" The moon," Hiro confidently stated, his chest puffed out, ".. is made of cheese."

If Hiro didn't score a date with Watanabe Ami last week, he would have been snickered at by the whole class. But, since Ami was a powerful figure superimposed upon a billboard in a busy highway (courtesy of her millionaire parents, by the way), people that had connections with her tend to acquire more respect and popularity. Hiro was having his field day.

A student, doing his hardest to stifle his chuckles, raised his hand to question, " Wh-what kind of cheese?"

" Oh, cheddar." Hiro assured him, " And mozzarella core. And, and, did you know its craters are made up of blue cheese?" he prodded on excitedly. " That's why the cafeteria got a whole supply of them, they have connections with astronoots."

Even before the whole class can burst out laughing because of Hiro's stupidity, the classroom door swung forward, revealing a very ruffled secretary. She was wheezing.

" Miko-san, p-please, keep the students under control.." she panted out.

" Why Haruka-san, is something wrong?" the teacher asked, once again, dramatically, her eyes round.

" Everything's wrong!" the principal's secretary bursted out with anger. " The students are in a rampage, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke is starting a war, the media is coming for a field day and the Haruno's and Uchiha's are in the school grounds! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!" she shrieked, grabbing handfuls of her hair.

Miko paused, probably thinking. " The moon is a very fragile globe." She muttered.

An agitated shriek reverberated through out the hall.

oXoXoXoXoXo

" Let us in! WE HAVE A PASS!" a reporter urged heatedly, shoving a laminated card towards a guard who was busy shoving his fellow reporters away from the school gates.

" PRINCIPAL TSUNADE DIDN'T EVEN DISTRIBUTED PASSES TO REPORTERS!" the guard retorted with the same heat, lifting a cameraman by the collar when he caught him turning his camera on.

" JUST STOP BEING SO PERSISTENT!" another security guard shot angrily.

" THIS IS OUR JOB! NOW WE HAVE TO GET AN INTERVIEW FROM UCHIHA SASUKE, OR ELSE WE'LL BREAK DOWN THE GATE OURSELVES!"

" Let's see you try!"

" OKAY, THAT'S IT! EVERYONE GET IN YOUR VANS!"

oXoXoXoXoXo

" TSUNADE-SHISHOU!"

Tsunade whipped her head back, towards a student who happened to be the president of the student council. Irritated, she snapped, " What is it?"

The boy jogged towards her. When he was an arm's length away from her, he stated his concern, " Tsunade-shishou, it's a mess! The students are disregarding their classes, the teachers are undergoing emotional turmoil, the media broke down the gates!"

" WHAT THE FUCK!" the blond woman spat mercilessly.

" I-it's true, Tsunade-shishou. Not to mention the top business tycoons are currently in the school grounds, along with their wives—"

Suddenly, two hands curled against the spectacled boy's collar, bringing him closer towards a porcelain face. His brown eyes met those of sharpened emerald, which was currently very intimidating. He gasped.

" Wh-what is it, Sakura?" he boldly asked.

" They're here?" she asked in a murmur, her lips barely moving.

" Y-yes.."

As the normal gossiping crowd they are, they did what they did almost all of the time—throw random and unneeded comments.

" Really? The Haruno's are here! Wow..!"

" Ha! Did you know my dad's assistant vice-president in the China-Star Hotels?"

" So?"

" It means I have connections."

" Connections, my ass! Your dad's a frickin' janitor!"

" STOP DEGRADING MY DAD!"

" I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!"

Watanabe Ami, who sat on the very edge of the bleachers, scoffed like she never did before. " What's that bitch to do with the business tycoon Haruno Daisuke and, my own personal inspiration, Haruno Yukari, the world class model? That Sakura-whore is not even qualified to be those two's foot rug!"

" Excuse me." came the voice of a woman. " Are you talking about my daughter?"

Ami turned. " What do you mean—"

There, occupying the once vacant seat on her right, was Ami's eternal angel, her forever inspiration, Haruno Yukari. She slowly broke into a wide smile, her hands shaking violently.

I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it! Thank God I had the wits to think about putting myself on a billboard! Now Haruno Yukari is going to take me as her top model! OH MY GOOOOOD!

All these mental screaming numbed her head with a dull ache. But still, she was grinning her prettiest smile for the woman. Haruno Yukari seemed uncaring, for she remained cool and indifferent even after seeing the suspicious grin that Ami chose to wear.

" Are you talking about my DAUGHTER?" she asked again, slowly this time.

" DAUGHTER! What daughter Miss Haruno?" Ami squabbled excitedly, " I don't know what you're talking about, I don't even know what to say, I don't know how to feel, I don't know whether to live or just fall down dead—"

But she did fall down dead in realization—well, almost. Her mind registered one concrete idea. Her eternal inspiration said daughter. And the daughter comment was directed at her worst enemy.

" DAUGHTER!" she gawked unbelievably, " That _bitch_ is your daughter!"

Haruno Yukari, as she stood from her seat, planted her intense eyes at Ami. Burying her palms by the sides of her curvy hips, she said, " Look, whoever you are," the woman threw those words around, unminding of the stares that shot at her back, " Just because your hair SUCKS ('and needs further conditioning, it's as dry as the Sahara dessert, don't you know?' the agitated mother pointed out snappishly) get—off—Sakura's." the woman finally growled out.

Ami sat there, trembling in both embarrassment and anger.

Yukari straightened up. " Or else I'll have that thing between your eyes, which is clearly a bad nose job, hanging by the tip of this school's flagpole." She stated smoothly.

With that, she descended down the stairs, where a pant-clad man wearing a red polo shirt stood, waiting. And he was waiting quite impatiently. For he was already bouncing with the balls of his feet with obvious excitement.

" Yuka-chan, are you done already?" he whined at the irritated female. " Did you bitch out on someone again?"

Yukari shrugged and walked by his side. " Well, almost, but still not enough. I swear, another word from her mouth and I'll staple it shut with a jackhammer and a thousand nails.."

Yukari turned to her husband, just to check if he was listening or not. But Daisuke was looking around, scanning every face, up at the bleachers, by the doors through the court—but then double-took when he saw a raven-haired teen standing by, his face very cross. Though one should expect that a father should be looking for his daughter, Daisuke was excitedly making his way to the distressed boy.

Sakura was snapped back to the real world when she heard a faint sobbing near the doors. Apparently Watanabe Ami once again made a fool out of herself, which resulted to her noisy bawls and overreacting hiccups. The other members of 'I heart Sasuke-kun!' posse was pooling around her, trying their best to comfort her 'in her time of need'. She only stopped when one rich Sasuke fan promised a full day shopping spree in an expensive boutique.

What a pig.

From her peripheral vision, she saw Sasuke the bastard annoyingly staring at a guy who stood feet away from him.

_**What the heck is wrong with bastard? He can't just stare at that man, who looks.. freakishly like my dad..**_

**KABOOM.**

The ship is sinking, evacuate all passengers! We have hit an ice burg at exactly 5:17! I repeat, EVACUATE ALL PASSENGERS! WE'RE GONNA DIE!

_ALL PILOTS SHOULD BE IN A PLANE RIGHT NOW! PEARL HARBOR IS BEING BOMBED! ALL CAPABLE OF MOVING, HEAD TO THE BASE IMMEDIATELY! _

_We are sensing strong, seismic events 10 kilometers away from here. Alert all near by residents! All individuals should not be found in the streets nor near easily collapsible objects!_

_THE BOAT IS SINKING... GROUP YOURSELVES INTO FIVE! _

" D-dad!" Sakura choked out.

It must be a very loud sound, for half the audience up the bleachers turned to her direction, and so did her dad who stood meters away from her. She didn't even had the time to flush a deep color of scarlet. She watched faintly as his dad who was prone to committing extremely childish acts brandish his arm around in an exaggerated attempt to wave.

Before she could fully understand what was really going on, she was tapped by the shoulder by someone. Naturally, she would turn around, which was her initial reaction to every action which grabbed her attention. But what her eyes met were two individuals—with freakishly similar facial features with her arch nemesis.

Her green eyes widened more as the male that tapped her began to babble words that were far from being understandable.

" HEY! (pause) Are you Haruno Sakura wow you're pretty it's gonna be a pleasure being my son's fiancée this is sooo cool you look like your mom though I hope you're not as violent as her she nearly blew my brains out when we were still in high school with that stupid jackhammer and whenever she wants me to shut up she whips out that creepy jackhammer and a bag of rusty nails which could hurt really bad cause it's really rusty oh you got pink hair I love pink but my Suzu-chan thinks I'm gay because of it but I'm hundred percent man so let's keep it a secret huh? HUH? HUH!" he blabbered endlessly, leaving the girl very eerily frightened.

" Shizuke, you idiot! You're scaring her!" a female voice finally cut in to prevent his husband, who was ready to blurt out a new batch of ramblings, from being so unusual.

" Uhm, Haruno Sakura?" she inquired politely. She smiled softly as the said girl nodded. " I'm Uchiha Suzuki and this is—"

" Uchiha Shizuke blah, blah, blah.. let's keep it short, shall we?" he suggested, waving his hand around. " Sakura-chan we got something to say!"

" Shizuke, not to suddenly—" Suzuki warned, but was thoroughly ignored.

" YOU'RE—"

oXoXoXoXoXo

Sasuke glared hard at the overreacting male in front of him. God, he talks too much. This was getting stupid. Getting stupider.. Okay, this is the stupidest thing ever. Whatever. He didn't even understand a single word that got spewed out of his mouth.

" –how do you keep your hair so spiky I bet you used a whole tub of gel but that's weird you don't look so slimy to me and you got as jersey wow Sakura-chan also has a jersey do you think hers is cute I think so because she's the cutest angel to fall on earth you think so right I knew it you love her ahahaha this is gonna be easy whoa is that a pair of Air Jordans that is sooooooo cool I got 50 pairs of it!"

The man, Daisuke, gave him another reason to glare—he was again preparing for another grand announcement that would surely blow his eardrums out. He knew that his parents were interrogating Sakura as well, but felt pleasure as she turned to them, surprised and frightened by the initial reaction of his dad. But, even with the joy of the girl's pain, he felt a foreboding feeling enter his whole body. He was being interrogated by the possible parents of his worst enemy, and his worst enemy was being interrogated by his parents. It was too.. questionable.

" I'm Haruno Daisuke and this is Haruno Yukari—"

**_Ha, it thought so. _**Sasuke though smugly.

" AND YOU'RE—"

oXoXoXoXoXo

The double doors of the gymnasium bursted open with a deafening 'BLAG!'. People with clip-on microphones, cameras, fluffy things poked on sticks went rushing in, stomping on anything just to regain their balance. Their number was unbearable.

" **Media! WHO THE HECK LET YOU IN!**" Tsunade thundered, " **I DO NOT ALLOW YOUR RAT ASS PRESENCE IN MY SCHOOL!**"

The guards swept in a few seconds after, stopping at the presence of the principal. " We are very sorry, Tsunade-sama! The media broke down the gates by running it down with their vans! They're an unstoppable gossip-hungry crowd!" the head guard screeched.

Tsunade seemed to bloat. " And so I heard. CALL THE COPS! NOW!"

Suddenly, each crowd, may it be the audience up in their seats or the media fighting for the best position near Uchiha Sasuke, fell into dead silence. But Tsunade was pretty sure her order to alert the police was not the reason behind all of these.

Pushing her way into the crowd that encircled both her students and their parents, she wondered what this was all about. As she broke through the wall of cameras and microphones, she got a glance of the two students that seemed unresponsive.

" WHAT," Tsunade breathed out angrily, hot air passing through her nostrils, " IS GOING ON IN HERE!"

" I'm.." Sakura stuttered faintly.

" I'm.." Sasuke choked out.

A great big pause.

" **I'M FUCKING ENGAGED!**"

Both chorused in an agitated scream.

And that was the exact moment Neji and the others broke through the clump of media people around.

And as they heard those words and stuck it onto their brains permanently, all six males immediately stopped on their tracks.

The first one to speak was Naruto.

" NO—FUCKING—WAY!" he roared.

oXoXoXoXoXo

_**Good afternoon, all you gossip hungry people out there, and welcome to GOSSIP GIRL, your number one entertainment news source center!**_

_**In our hottest headlines, the surprising news today! Teen actor and icon Uchiha Sasuke is engaged! This was the shock that every girl in Japan had to take in. The seventeen year old hottie was forced into the engagement by his business tycoon parents, who have arrived just yesterday. So, who is the lucky girl? We found out that the fortunate maiden who have a chance to build a future with the star is—**_

(click!)

_**In the BUSINESS WORLD TODAY, leading business tycoons Haruno Daisuke and Yukari tops the list as the most profitable proprietors in the world! In the background, the daughter of the said couple is currently engaged with a big-time movie star, who happen to be—**_

(click!)

_**Welcome to A BITE OF THE BIG APPLE, where you can see the most grandeur infrastructures in New York today! In this episode of A.B.B.A., we feature the most exquisitely designed hotels in the Big A today. On the A list is China-Star Hotels, which is designed by one of the most successful interior designer in the world, a fellow Japanese, Hakusho Furuma, who happen to be Haruno Yukari's close friend. Capturing both Japanese and Chinese cultures, Furuma blended together the two different styles to produce a heart-warming, homey feeling of the Eastern Regions. And, just a little trivia, the Haruno's daughter is soon to be wed with—**_

(click!)

_**And now back to the FOOD NETWORK! We're now working on our strawberry shortcake, and here's a nifty technique for your strawberries, I learned this from my chef friend in China-Star Hotels in New York. You have to cut it a bit thickly, so once you bite on the fruit, the texture would work well with the cake. She's really mastered working with strawberry shortcakes. In fact her cakes are exported to Japan every week, for the Haruno's daughter loved these cakes really badly that her parents, who owned the hotels, sends a box of the stuff to her every week. Oh, I just heard that Haruno Sakura is engaged with—**_

(click!)

" Damn," Kakashi breathed out, " It's everywhere."

Silence.

" Am I invited to the wedding?" Kakashi mused aloud, stroking his perfect chin.

oXoXoXoXoXo

**END.**

_SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDINGS. _

**ENJOY Y'ALL!**

_ang3Lix. _


	8. the whole aftermath

**Love Story**

CHAPTER 8: the whole aftermath

* * *

" Sakura-san!" the distressed call of a servant reached her ears. " Are you alright? Please, open the door!"

Instead of doing the exact thing, she held her legs closer to her chest. She placed her chin upon her knees and said nothing. Something that she would not have done if she was truly alright.

She hated herself right now. Sakura had once been this fragile when she was still a young girl, and she vowed never to show any signs of distress. Pity was something she never asked from a person. All she wanted was respect.

And her parents clearly denied her of that thing. By promising their daughter to a marriage this early, and to whom she absolutely hated, was depriving her of that respect. Sakura had long been controlling her own life. Suddenly the controls were snatched away from her hands without any permission. That SUCKED.

She didn't want to end up like those girls in soap operas where the protagonist would be married to a person by force. Heck, she didn't even want to watch soap operas! But she can't help but notice the exact similarities of her life to the girl in the screen.

It had been days since the **"grandeur"** event. Since that day people from the media began pooling excitedly at the grounds of the Haruno mansion, demanding her presence with them. They urged her to appear on screen, for they reason that the people should know the truth. Well, by not appearing to them at all would tell them the truth that she wasn't enjoying this engagement the slightest.

She had not heard from her parents. She had not heard from her friends. She had not heard from any of the close buddies she had in the basketball team. She had not heard the usual jeers and snorts and taunts from Sasuke himself. She was starting to think that people were forgetting about her existence right now.

Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino and Lee had not dropped by for a visit. She knew that they were willing enough to give her some time alone, probably to think it over.

She drew herself closer into a ball, as she sat down her tiled flooring.

But maybe the exact people she really wanted now, by her side, were **_them

* * *

.General science was their period today._**

That was the time Hyuuga Neji felt the most persuasive intuition, a chill run down his spine.

And he wasted no time following it.

As he stood up, five pair of eyes shot inquisitively at him. Craning his head towards te other five that still had their butts glued on their seats, he muttered, " Let's go."

And with that they immediately understood his message.

Iruka, who was once peering over the different documents placed on his table, looked up to see the six most troublesome males in the class walk towards him. All five didn't seem to mind the stares of both jealousy (this class was killing them too, you know) and admiration (they so wanted to walk the walk. Neji and the others are walking the walk sooo damn fine) that seared on their backs. Shino tossed a few mimeographed papers onto Iuka's desk. As the teacher scanned through every test paper, he gave a small smile.

" You all passed." He announced, fishing out a red pen from his trusty pouch. " And make sure you get Sakura's ass in class, will you? She's missing a lot of her lessons."

* * *

" I don't need food." Her dull reply came from the other side of the doors.

The female servant heaved a heavy sigh. She turned to her companions, who were carrying at least three large bowls of yellow rice, a plateful of chicken legs, a large bowl of gravy and a jug of pomelo juice. The simple shaking of her head signified the girl's resistance to any form of persuasion.

" She says she doesn't need food."

" That's impossible!" another servant exclaimed, " She eats **FIVE** bowls of rice a day! She's gonna die with all that fasting!"

" She's not fasting, you idiot!" another female snapped, " She's not eating because she's _engaged_."

" Well if I'm engaged to Uchiha Sasuke I'd be dieting to you know, I heard she's into shapely women.. Sakura doesn't have a great figure anyway, compared to me of course!"

" Well you really should diet, you tub of lard!"

" Shut up!"

" No, YOU shut up!"

As Sakura heard the bickering just behind her very own doors, she kept her silence even more. Even her servants think she's pathetic. And she was not in the right mood to even prove them wrong. She buried her head deeper within her folded arms. She did not even know how long she planned on doing this.

* * *

Everybody jumped out the moment the vehicle came to a stop on the front porch. All six of them poured into the spacious living room jogged up the stairs, took a right turn, then another right turn, jogged down another set of stairs, crossed the indoor garden, entered a smaller two story home that was a part of the Haruno mansion and finally halted to a stop in front of a familiar two door entrance. Several maids were already trying their luck to enter a door that was clearly locked by the owner. And by the looks of it she was still inside.

Naruto snatched off the necklace he wore everyday. Hanging by the thick strand of metal was two sets of small keys, which was full of scratches and dark, pentel pen marks. He tossed the keys to Neji who caught it deftly within his fingers. He easily placed the key in and turned—the door popped open immediately.

All of them entered. The others headed towards Sakura while Naruto went over to her bedside table where her answering machine was stuffed into a bulky pillow.

All of them were silent—this was the first time since they were six years old that she had ever locked herself inside her room. This was a very foreign feeling for them. As sappy as it sounds, they felt memories flood back.

Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba and Lee sat down around the girl, who still refused to look at them. Kiba was the one who spoke first.

" Sakura-chan, are you okay?" he asked gently and uncertainly, though knowing what the exact answer was. " We're a bit late, but you know schoolwork.." he murmured, unsuccessful to find any valid reason for their mistake.

Sakura finally placed her arms away from her face, and shifted her legs in a cross seating position. Her face was still hidden with the locks of hair that slid down as she kept her head bent down.

" You know," she muttered, " I waited three days for you guys."

" We're sorry." Neji breathed out as quietly as possible.

" Sakura-san," Lee said sorrowfully, " We're sorry we didn't keep our promise. We promised you we'd protect you from ay kind of hurt, but we're the one hurting you right now."

" Sakura-chan," Naruto called, her answering machine clasped in one hand, " When was the last time you checked your machine?" He then pushed the black button that completely ceased the repetitive blinking of the red light found just above.

A recorded voice flooded her ears.

_Sakura-chan, this is Naruto.. it's three o'clock in the morning, I know, I'm sorry I called so early! Are you okay? Call me back!_

**Beep.**

_Sakura, Kiba here. I'm calling from my cellphone in the boy's C.R. right now. Are you eating? Call me back later! Bye._

**Beep.**

_This is Aiko and the others in the basketball team, Sakura-chan! We miss you! Please come back and train with us, please!_

**Beep.**

_Sakura, you're missing a lot of your lessons! Come to the teacher's faculty for remedial, okay? This is Iruka-sensei._

**Beep.**

_Sakura-san, I have ice cream! Guess what, it's strawberry! It's good for your youth! Please go to school, Sakura-san! We miss you!_

**Beep.**

_ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! Oh yeah, Akamaru misses you too!_

**Beep.**

_You said you'll go to the insect museum with me. You can't do that while you're imprisoning yourself in your room, can you? Get out of there. Shino._

**Beep.**

_You can cry if you have a problem, you know. That's what you taught me in the first place. We're waiting for you. Neji._

**Beep.**

_Are you sleeping? Don't tire yourself with moping. That would be troublesome. We're not going anywhere, you know. If you need someone, call the frickin' hell back. We're waiting._

**Beep.**

_Princess, are you okay? The servants told us you're not eating anything. Would you like us to send strawberry shortcakes? Is your supply finished already? Call us back, okay? Love, Mom and Dad._

**Beep.**

**Beep.**

**Beep.**

Different voices from different people continued to flood in. Everybody kept their silence to listen—even people who had not been that close to the girl pitched in to persuade her back.

A message caught everyone's attention.

_Aren't your hands itching to break my nose? Don't be pathetic and stop locking yourself in your house. It's not only you who's into this mess. I am as sure as hell is also. So get a life and come back, pinky._

" We we're.. scared, of what will happen to you in that engagement, Sakura-chan." Naruto admitted, as he placed the phone back on the bedside table. The messages did not stop. " It was only now that we knew that all of us are calling you. I guess we didn't want to admit we're holding onto you too tightly.."

The girl's shoulders began to quiver. Her fingers began to clasped tightly against their twins. And soon enough, the tears that were suppressed too long finally slid out.

Sakura sprung up and held tightly unto the first person she could reach. Soon, everybody was patting her head, soothing her down, and rubbing her back supportively.

That was the time she, even though halfheartedly, accepted the engagement.

* * *

This chapter's short, but really needed. Sorry about that! Thank you so much for all the support, people. It's really helping me a lot with the writing process. ) thanks a lot!

Enjoy y'all!

_ang3Lix. _


	9. our little engelbert

DISCLAIMER: I miss saying this.. so.. ehem.. _starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, own Naruto for just one night!_

**Please read CHAPTER SEVEN AND EIGHT, because I already rewritten it. Many points of the story were very different. I made many adjustments, so please, read it before going on to this chapter. Thanks!**

**Love Story**

BY: ang3Lix

Chapter 9: Our little Engelbert

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sakura's duffel bag slid down her shoulder at the sight of her new home.

She shook her head in disbelief, planted her palm upon her forehead, and breathed out an audible gasp. " Sheesh.. This house is so big.."

The house was amazingly enormous. The structure itself was beautiful, with the walls painted a light, creamy color of beige and the roof colored maroon. The porch had two reclining chairs along with two side tables. She looked around—the outside garden was filled with vibrantly colored flowers and towering cherry blossom trees. Just by the side a large pool filled with clean, water glistened against the sun. A tire swing was attached to a strong, apple tree nearby.

Sakura stepped onto a stair and heard a creak. Her lips slowly formed into a playful smile. This house was turning into the one she truly wanted.

She was about to reach open for the door when it suddenly opened on its own. She stared as two security guards grinned toothily at her baffled form. Smiling back quite uncertainly, she entered the house immediately, not even daring to look back at the two men. They were.. Weirdly excited. That was eerie.

But as she stole a _little _glance back then looked forward again, all she got was a face full of broad chest covered with a Polo shirt. Stumbling back, she glared angrily at the person who was a centimeter away from running over her. And, as expected, it was Uchiha Sasuke.

But instead of lashing at him for blocking her way, she suddenly fell into an unusual silence. Her actions (such as locking herself up, refusing to eat, and flinging dangerous objects around) were still freshly burned into her mind. And to think that his arch nemesis sent her a message to get her ass back and stop moping around.. Well, it certainly tarnished her pride.

Sasuke smirked at her silenced form. " I see you got your life back. Congratulations, Pinky." He sneered, bonking the top of her head lightly. " That was for letting me handle the press **alone**."

Sakura's eyes darted even farther away from the taunting ones of the Uchiha. All she did was mutter, " I was busy.."

Sasuke snorted with disdain. " Yeah right, busy starving and locking yourself in like an idiot. God, the things you do, Pinky.. It's just plain stupid."

She glanced up at him, slightly fuming. " **DON'T PUSH IT.**"

The male, again, did that annoying kind of snort. " Whatever. Oh yeah, get me a hotdog."

Sakura's flaring eyes suddenly ceased into confusion. " Wha..?" When it finally dawned to her, she let out a soft, sarcastic laugh. " What, you want me to put mustard on it?" the sarcasm was dripping _everywhere_.

" It's not gonna put mustard on itself." Sasuke sneered, rolling his onyx orbs skyward. " After the hotdog thing, scrub the left window pane by the kitchen. I _accidentally_ flung mayonnaise on it. Sorry." He smirked, while the girl struggled to absorb every command.

" And why would you think I'd do that?" Sakura snapped.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders simply. " Take it as paying your debt. I had to answer stupid question about how your parents produced such weird DNA that made your hair pink. So deal with it, pinky."

" They asked you that?" she asked darkly, her eyes flickering back to the male. Again with the hair-color issue. One should have thought everyone knew that by now.

But it should be hell. Everybody screaming questions at the same time, squinting at the bright camera lights, getting yourself crushed by the heavy weight of the press around you.. maybe she did owe him one.

" When do you want the hotdog?" she finally sighed out, showing obvious signs of giving in.

Sasuke smirked once again. " Now."

Sakura groaned, then dragged her duffel bag against the floor. Tossing it towards the still form of Sasuke, she dragged her feet towards what she thought was the kitchen—and miraculously, she picked the right room. But as she analyzed her surroundings more carefully.. she gaped. The whole room was a MESS. The walls splattered with different kinds of concoctions, which oddly resembled freshly barfed puke.

Sakura cringed.

The table was full of dirty plates and glasses, the utensils scattered haphazardly. Crumbs of bread, spatters of sauces and different kinds of things were smeared across the table cloth. The sink was over pouring of bubbles and the room stank of a strong lime and champagne scent. She almost felt dizzy just by looking at all the crap.

" Hurry up." Sasuke called, while he got comfy on the velvet-cushioned sofa, " We have school later."

Sakura's eyes perked open in horror and realization. " God, no."

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Ashikawa Engelbert, (pronounced as eng-GEL-bert), a student of both American and Japanese descent, happened to go the prestigious high school known as Konoha High (otherwise known as The Academy of the Burning Leaf, Japan Branch). He was a genius—but not really the coolest person around. Typically, he was as corny, geeky, and infuriating as his name sounded.

Well, why the heck is he mentioned anyway? Well, our little Engelbert, while walking down the corridor, bumped into one of the bullies in his batch. And as expected, he was gonna have his ass kicked if not for his fast legs that got him sailing through the crowd and out of the harasser's sight. But he was smart—and knew he had to have some back-up to avoid his nose being broken for the thirteenth time this year. So, he walked through his classes with a poster taped on his chest, saying 'ALLIANCE, ANYONE? I'LL DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR A WEEK.'

But since everyone already had a geek to do their homework, he was left alone and defenseless—until he came up with another smashing idea that could work on his benefit. He heard about Haruno Sakura a lot of times, and new about her monstrous power. If he befriends her and win her affection, he'll have safety for the rest of his life. Not to mention he'll gain the dominance over the whole student body since her friends are standing by to kill anyone who dared touch him.

So he scribbled down her latest address (why she moved he did not know why) and set for her home.

" Thank you, God of logical thinking!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. " I shall have eternal dominance! Eternal dominance, I say! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed darkly, then stopped.

" Time for some dehydrated celery sticks.." he said, rubbing his stomach gleefully.

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Naruto hummed a tune.

As he gripped the steering wheel with one hand, he reached for his phone and flipped it back. He pushed 1, the speed dial for Sakura-chan's number.

He continued to hum the same tune as he heard her phone ring.

_Sakura-chan has a nice ring back song! _He commented mentally, as he heard 'Helena' through his phone.

_**What's the worst That I could say? **_

_**  
Things are better if I stay **_

_**  
So long and goodnight **_

_**  
So long and goodnight **_

_**  
Well if you carry on this way **_

_**  
Things are better if I stay **_

_**  
So long and goodnight **_

**_  
So long and—_**

" Good morning.." came the weary voice of the girl he wanted to talk to.

" HELLO SAKURA-CHAN, RISE AND SHINE, RISE AND SHINE, RISE AND SHINE!" he screamed over the phone, grinning. He heard the girl groan over the other line. " Wow, Sakura-chan, you sound so tired! Is the new house too big to talk a stroll at?" he commented, narrowly avoiding another car by giving the steering wheel a sudden jerk downwards.

He looked out his car window. " GOMEN!" he waved.

" Not exactly.." she responded, the same tiredness still present in his voice. " Just a bit.. jetlagged."

" Oh, okay!" Naruto smiled. " Get some rest, Sakura-chan! See you later!"

" Yeah.."

-**Beep.**-

Naruto continued to hum a tune, while he tossed his phone somewhere beneath the car seat by his right.

Naruto then frowned. " HEY! Sakura-chan doesn't need to ride an airplane!"

He nervously tapped his fingers on the steering wheel a couple of times.

He then suddenly dove for his phone.

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

" WATCH WHERE'S YOUR GOING!"

" ARE YOU BLIND! THE STOP SIGN'S BLINKING, MORON!"

" YOU ALMOST DROVE OVER THE OLD LADY!"

" GOMEN!" Naruto waved.

He quickly flipped the phone open, then speed dialed Neji's number.

" Neji?"

_What._

" Are you at school now?"

_I'm in the bathroom. _

" Can you meet me at the stop sign by the highway? As in right now? At this very moment? Not one second wasted?"

_(Pauses to "think") No._

" Okay. Can you get me a hotdog instead?"

_(Pauses to "think") No._

" You ass."

_-click-_

Naruto sighed. " Fine, I'm going there by myself!" he said, very determined. " I'm coming Sakura-chan!" he pumped a fist in the air, but his hand painfully hit the car roof.

" This is why I hate cars." Naruto mumbled, disgruntled.

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**RING, RING!**

" Get your gluteus maximus out of the concrete pathway, granny!" he gurgled out, shaking his fist.

He continued to paddle.

Engelbert rang his bicycle bell. He was all geared up for a daily ride around town, complete with knee and elbow pads, helmet and mouthpiece. Well, he had to be prepared, right?

Releasing the other handle of his bike, he fumbled a piece of paper out of his checkered, tucked in polo shirt pocket. He stared at the scribble, then gazed at the cream-colored mansion just ahead of him.

He grinned, his mouthpiece almost popping out.

_**Hee, hee, hee, hee.. **_

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" Missed a spot.." Sasuke sleep-talked from the couch.

Sakura breathed hot air through her nose, in attempt to calm herself down.

Nope, not working.

_**Aargh, I'm dead tired!**_

Sakura glanced at her hands. She cringed at the scratches and groaned at the soreness she felt. This was not the way she wanted her first day in her own house to be. She expected a warm bed, some warm food, and a warm bath. Instead she had to pay an alternative kind of debt to the Uchiha just because he had to answer some stupid questions.

_That's right.. stupid questions. Stupid questions that he's not even **obligated** to answer._

Sakura turned away from the sink she was scrubbing, threw the rag she was just holding a while ago, and marched up to Sasuke, who had his head buried in a book.

Sakura, still void of any kind of reaction, raised her brow at the snoring form of the male. She grabbed the book from his hands, closed it shut, and threw it against the floor. It clattered down with a loud 'bang!'.

Sasuke immediately bolted up awake. " What..?" he murmured, rubbing his eye, " Is my hotdog ready..?"

Sakura gave off a snort. Growling audibly, she grabbed him by his collar, then heaved him up with such ease it was frightening. Sasuke's drowsy orbs snapped open.

She drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes in the process. The moment her emerald orbs snapped open was the exact time an uncontrolled shriek erupted from her voice box.

" **YOU ASS! YOU ASS! I'M NOT YOUR SERVANT! HOW CAN YOU TREAT ME LIKE ONE! GO TO HELL! GO TO HELL! I HATE YOU! HOW CAN I PLAY AT THE INTERSCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH BRUISED HANDS! WHAT, YOU WANT ME TO BRUISE SOMETHING OF YOURS! DON'T ANSWER THAT COZ I'D PROBABLY DO IT ANYWAY! WHY THE HECK DID I AGREED TO THIS THING IN THE FIRST PLACE? GOD! I'M AN IDIOT!**"

Sakura dumped Sasuke back upon the couch, though the male was finally out of his sleepy stupor. He stared both awkwardly and nervously at the girl who was pacing back and forth, mumbling incoherent words which were probably best kept to herself. Her apron was full of stains, her hands were most likely aching. Her hair, which she twisted in a bun then poked through with a couple of chopsticks, was a complete mess.

" _Prodigeux! Geisteskrankheit! Ingiusto! Coloquial es incredible!_" these were the words that Sasuke's deft ears caught. Was she speaking.. like four languages at the same time?

**_She must be really angry.. _**Sasuke observed, as the Haruno began spewing out angered French sentences out of her mouth like a hose.

" Hey, Pinky," Sasuke interrupted, his finger poised upon his chin in a contemplative manner, " Can you at least curse me in a language I can **understand**?" he stated the last word with pure mockery.

Instead of obeying him like the Sakura who scrubbed the kitchen walls thoroughly, the present Sakura growled in an insane rage, grabbed a nearby lamp and chucked it towards the seated male, electric plugs and all. The flying object hit him in the head squarely.

" **ARE YOU INSANE!**" Sasuke roared, covering the right portion of his forehead, " **ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!**"

" **OF COURSE I AM!**"

" **GAAHH! I'M BLEEDING! COME BACK HERE, PINKY! WAIT 'TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU..**" In the process of standing up and running towards the girl, the male stumbled on the very lampshade that poked a hole on his head. (I was exaggerating. Honestly.)

The mansion doors creaked open. The guards pathetically scrambled out of the way. Sasuke stopped struggling and Sakura stopped running. She slowly spotted the long shadow of a person creep in. His footsteps made an odd echoing noise upon the wood. As they wait in bated breath of what their eyes shall meet..

An irritating screech of a tire upon the road tore through their ears. " HI!"

They only realized that the screechy noise was the voice of a person when they saw the tall and lankly and nerdy and geeky form of Ashikawa Engelbert popping his mouthpiece out and tucking them in a protective casing.

Both Sasuke and Sakura's left eye cringed at the action.

" Greeting fellow schoolmate!" he addressed Sasuke with his ear-pounding voice, " And hello to you my fair, young, lady." He attempted to say smoothly. It didn't work, apparently, for Sakura was already cracking her knuckles. This was just not a good day for her, and she wouldn't want another source of irritation.

" Who the heck are you?" Sasuke asked, fumbling his handkerchief open to use it as a temporary bandage. " And how did you enter the gates?"

" It was open." Engelbert chirped simply.

**_Useless guards. _**Sasuke glared at the two, who grinned and waved stupidly at him. He made a mental note to demand Kakashi more sufficient ones.

Engelbert beamed, his braces shimmering by the light that bounced upon it, " Anyway, my name is—"

" SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura's eyes perked open and traced whoever called her name. " Naruto?"

" LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!" he screeched, " What do you mean you're jetlagged, Sakura-chan! You're house is like half a kilometer from school! You don't need to ride a plane!"

" Pants on _what_?" Sakura asked, unpleasantly surprised. For all she knew, that quotation was so last century. " I was just a bit.. disoriented, okay? And I didn't know you'd take that so seriously."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bleeding Uchiha. Sasuke glared back at the blond.

" Hey, Sasuke-bastard's bleeding!" he commented, pointing a finger at him.

Sakura snorted. " So? He's an **asshole**."

Naruto seemed contented with the reply. " Oh yeah. So, disoriented? Why and are you feeling any better?"

" Chores and just a bit." She mumbled tiredly, jabbing her thumb towards the disgruntled Uchiha.

Naruto looked puzzled. " Chores? You have ch—" but soon enough, he realized. " **YOU'RE MAKING HER DO CHORES!**" Naruto roared.

He grabbed his best friend's hands, studied them carefully, then held them out for the raven-haired boy to see. " **SHE HAS BRUISES!**"

" Really? I didn't notice." Sasuke said with mockery, disgruntled. You may have noticed that all I say about the Uchiha is that he's disgruntled. Yes, he's a very disgruntled boy. Why I decided to make him very disgruntled.. I'm not really sure of.

So, you might think: where is Engelbert? Well, now that he's mentioned, the genius was standing at one corner, like a stick, unattended. And like any normal person, he did not like being ignored. So, he cleared his throat with a cough as geeky as his name, and spoke.

" Excuse me! Why is everyone **ignoring** me?" he called out. Everybody turned to look at him.

" Who are you?" Naruto inquired.

Engelbert rolled his eyes skyward, very irritated. He was trying his hardest to just introduce himself, if not for the several casualties that happened. " I'm Ashikawa Engelbert! I'm like, the god of logical thinking here! Why do you not know me!"

" Really? I'm really interested, tell me more!" Sasuke gushed out sardonically. (Sardonically means sarcastically. We wouldn't want our little Sasuke to sound gay, right?) He pressed his hanky against his forehead.

" Gladly!" Engelbert puffed his chest out, like the pompous idiot he was. " I was born of both American and Japanese decent, which proved to result to smarter and more gorgeous looking persons—judging my drop dead gorgeous looks and wide range of knowledge—"

" Could you shut the hell up?" Sakura asked, irritated, " We're trying to solve a major crisis here."

Engelbert pushed his glasses up his nose bridge. " Oh, you mean, the unfair division of household activities?" he said smartly.

" I was about to say chores, but whatever—"

Engelbert guffawed. " That's easy!" he guffawed more, " Make a contract!" he suggested.

" Why the heck would we do that?" Sasuke mumbled from the couch, where he sat spread-eagled, his other hand pressing against the side of his head.

Engelbert once again rolled his eyes skyward (getting repetitive, huh?). " So you'd know where and what are the boundaries of your household duties! That way you'd have a solid agreement that you'd do these stuff and she'd do these. If anyone break any rule in the agreement, you have concrete evidence that both of you agreed to the terms and conditions."

Sasuke was beginning to feel dizzy.. " That's crap!" he slurred. " I ain't signing anything!"

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After five minutes, five copies of a new contract was already printed, and both parties were jotting down their signatures on different blanks.

Sakura got her copy and held on it tight, Sasuke's hand patted over the table blindly to retrieve his (since he was still very disoriented from the hit Sakura inflicted), and Naruto grabbed the remaining three. He tossed one to Engelbert, who was exiting Microsoft Word from Sasuke and Sakura's computer.

" Wha..?" He muttered, looking up to see Naruto standing beside him.

" Just keep it zipped, alright?" Naruto warned. " You're the one who helped us anyway."

Engelbert was touched. He never had anyone to have such trust in him, let alone toss him a contract that contained very confidential things. " Gee, thanks a lot!" he beamed.

" What do you want in return?" Sakura asked simply.

Engelbert grinned. " I already have the perfect idea."

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Ashikawa Engelbert strutted through the hallway, his chest once again puffed out with newfound confidence. People around him gasped in shock, surprise, admiration.. everything. It was the most desirable scene Engelbert had wished for.

Engelbert searched through the crowd—and finally found the people he was looking for. " Hello, gents." He greeted, smirking.

A senior that belonged to the group, who wore a varsity jacket, smirked at the sight of his next victim. " Oi, Engelbert, still strutting around like you're not in trouble, huh?" he drawled, reaching out to grab the male's collar. " Well that's gonna change soon enough."

But before he could even touch one fiber from Engelbert's clothes, he stumbled back in fear, away from the spectacled male. " O-on the se-second thought, k-keep strutting!" the varsity jock stuttered, still taking backward step, " Y-you look g-good when you do it!"

" Gladly!" he said proudly, beaming.

Our little Engelbert walked away with his head held high.

But behind our little Engelbert, a group consisted of six males and one girl walked just a short distance away from him. And they were the very reason why Engelbert was being gawked at, greeted, and feared by most of the students. Because the fearsome group of Konoha High was behind him, most probably lending him temporary protection.

This was what our little Engelbert wished for in return—a whole day where in Sakura and his six friends would follow him around, wherein he would receive total protection from harassers and over pouring geek-haters.

" Just ten minutes to go until dismissal.." Sakura muttered, glancing at her watch. " Suck it up, you guys, don't be a bunch of sissies!"

" But Sakura-chan, this is embarrassing!" Naruto whined, stomping his feet.

" We look like bodyguards!" Kiba complained.

" I hate this." Shino commented.

" My youth's fading away.." Lee groaned.

" This is so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

" Hn." Neji mumbled.

Sakura rolled her eyes. " Come on." She sighed, grabbing hold of Kiba and Naruto's hands and pulling them forward.

They managed to pass the exact classroom where Uchiha Sasuke was exiting from. Sasuke smirked at the sight of the pseudo-parade. " Oi, shouldn't you be in costumes or anything?" he called, " You guys could make amazing circus performers."

In a slit-second a lampshade was zooming its way towards Sasuke. It hit him squarely on the head.

" **GAAHH! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!**" Sasuke roared for the second time this day.

How Sakura managed to whip out a lampshade from nowhere, I do not know.

Don't worry Sakura and friends!

Only.. seven minutes and four seconds to go.

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**Author's notes:**

Please read **CHAPTER SEVEN AND EIGHT**, because I already rewritten it. Many points of the story were very different. I made many adjustments, so please, read it before going on to this chapter. Thanks!

Sorry for the late updates, I just can't will myself to force out ideas you know.. it's very tiring. Sorry if this chapter was very confusing, I don't even know what to say about this installment, but please, bear with me! Thanks for the people who read and reviewed my fics, I really appreciated it). Thank you so much.

(looks around then gushes out) I LOVE YOU ALL! (cough, cough) Okay, so.. on to the next chapter: **Meeting Kakashi. **Sounds creepy, huh? Hehe.

So.. Thanks again!

Enjoy, y'all!

Oh yeah, please add my friendster account! I had a new one because I had to delete it. My new friendster account: a n g 3 l i c a r i a n y a h o o . c o m . Yahoo messenger: r o o k i e r a s h y a h o o . c o m. just take out all the spaces! Hope to hear from you! )

Enjoy, y'all!

_ang3Lix._


	10. meeting kakashi

**LOVE STORY 10**

ang3Lix (writing as doodle shop)

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ CHAPTER 7, 8 AND 9 FIRST. THESE CHAPTERS ARE ENTIRELY REWRITTEN, AND IF YOU DON'T READ THEM FIRST, THIS CHAPTER WILL NEVER MAKE SENSE. OKAY! Okay. Hello! New format, as you see XD. Did you know that my all time favorite writer, Meg Cabot uses two names when she writes books? That's why I'm adding fancy stuff such as 'writing as doodle shop'. But it's not really something important XD. So, enjoy the chapter (after you read chapters 7, 8 and nine of course) and be happy!

* * *

**CHAPTER 10: MEETING KAKASHI

* * *

**

A sleek, black sports car was parked very early that morning. It was located just in front of the closed gates of Konoha High. At this time in the morning, just a few vehicles passed by the road, and only security guards roamed the school. The rest of the students/teachers were still on the verge of whacking their alarm clocks off and getting ready for school.

After the media incident, Tsunade had hired quite a number of men for security guards. Half of them were to have shifts at the morning (during classes) and half of them for the rest of the night. She was about to press charges to the media for the destruction and confusion they caused in a private academy, but thought twice and halfheartedly changed her mind. But she did ask for complete exclusion for the media. Starting today, Konoha High closed their gates to any form of broadcasting.

The individual inside the parked vehicle gazed at the structure of the school simply, as if contemplating his next move. When he finally reached his decision, he took out his phone, dialed some unknown telephone number, and placed the receiver against his ear.

_Good morning, you have reached the line of Maximedia Productions, please state your business._ A sleek voice of a female said over the phone.

" Youna? It's me."

_Oh, hello, sir. Anything I could help you with? Oh yeah, you have a 1:30 P.M. meeting with Yukino Hikaru's talent manager. I heard that it's basically concerns Sasuke's future project with her, I think. Don't be late!_

" Oh, yeah, that. Please cancel all of my meetings for today."

_WHAT! Sir, you cannot just do that! If I may say so, Sasuke's latest movie with her is going to be a very major production—_

" Then simply move it another day. I'm sure they won't mind.." the man waved his hand around animatedly in a gesture.

Youna groaned over the phone, apparently distressed. _ARRGH.. Sir, I am telling you, you will get into major trouble once I cancel your meetings.._

The man shrugged carelessly. " I'll take care of that trouble, don't worry. For now, cancel them all, okay? I have a little something to do today."

_Okay, okay, don't blame me if something happens._

He smiled. " I won't. Thanks, Youna."

The male once again took a glance at the domineering building that served as a school.

He grinned.

" Haruno Sakura, here I come." He whispered with much excitement.

---

Haruno Sakura, incidentally, bolted awake at that very moment.

She took a small glance from the alarm clock that sat, kind of timidly in her opinion, on her bedside table. It was only five o'clock in the morning.

_**Grreeeeaaat. Just great. Nice going God, you woke me up two hours before my usual waking time. You know I have this can't-get-back-to-sleep-when-woken-up sleeping problem! **_

Sakura grunted sleepily. For about a while she sat still as, well, something that didn't move, staring blankly at space, her normally lively eyes half covered with their lids. Well, this sucked. She wanted to sleep **yet** she was physically incapable of doing so. She wanted to blame God (well, not **that** seriously). But honestly, she really wished to blame Uchiha Sasuke, even if he had nothing to do with the fact she woke up too early. Simply because he's the source of all of her misfortunes.

A 'blag!' at her door was the only thing that snapped her out of her sleepy trance. Rubbing her eyes forcefully, she sluggishly stood up, padded across her bedroom to open the door. What she saw nearly made her scream in terror.

Sasuke's face, eyes half lidded, his hair tremendously stuck in odd angles and mouth slightly hanging open, peered through her door along with his entire pajama-clad body. He looked almost.. ghostly, and the precise timing of him thudding against Sakura's door so early in the morning was a very scary sight. Her weakest times of the day was during early morning, when she's completely disoriented and partly delirious. That was why she was too easily surprised. Clearly, during this time of the day, she was still deciding whether she's still dreaming or awake in the real world.

But the almost horrifying sight brought her to her senses. Well, not completely, but sufficient enough to give the boy a whack in the head.

" What are you doing here..?" Sakura kind of half-slurred.

Sasuke's expression turned extremely confused, but still very sleepy. " I dunno.." he snapped groggily. " I think I smell hotdogs.." he murmured.

" Don't be a moron, bastard.. go back to your room." She commanded drowsily, still rubbing her eyes and in the process, stifling a huge yawn.

She slammed the door shut behind her, right at Sasuke's face. She should have wondered whether the boy's nose got caught by the door or something. But deciding she was far to drowsy to do so, she climbed back to her bed, submerged herself under her blankets, and shut her eyes tightly. Soon enough, she fell into an uneasy slumber, probably forgetting about what happened earlier that morning.

---

**Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee—**

Poor alarm clock. The owner already slammed a hand down it's surface, that he didn't even finish his last beep! Well, disregarding the piece of technology..

Sakura opened her eyes, now at the right time, unlike a while ago which was inconveniently irritating. It was a weird pet peeve, but one of her morning customs was to wiggle her fingers gingerly, until she was sure it received a good supply of blood. She had hated it when certain parts of her body, such as legs, arms and hands, grow numb during her sleep. And so she did.

And what a funny thing to happen, because once she moved her hand to the side, her fingers grazed against something smooth. Curious, she crept her hand towards the right, patting the smooth something gingerly, until she felt it extend further. Finally getting sick of the suspense, she finally sat up.

The color from her face drained off. Her knuckled turned extremely white, possibly because she was clenching her fists too tightly.

Why? Because there beside her, just **mere inches** apart from her, was the sleeping figure of Uchiha Sasuke, who had latched on tightly to her favorite pillow. She quickly saw a bit of drool dribbling down.. which made her madder. She was mad enough to chuck him out of the window whilst knowing that he somehow crept on her bed while she was asleep and **stayed** there. Imagine how mad she was now that she found out that not only did Sasuke sleep beside her early that morning, but was also drooling on her favorite pillow.

She released a bloodcurdling shriek.

Upon hearing her scream, Sasuke bolted up awake, dangerously surprised. The moment he saw Sakura in her large t-shirt and doggy pajamas in the same bed with him, he yelled in terror/fright/deliriousness.

Sakura shrieked once more, now in pure anger.

Sasuke yelled back in terror/fright/deliriousness.

Sakura screamed, this time out of annoyance.

Sasuke yelled back in, yes, you guessed it, terror/fright/deliriousness.

Wrenching away the blanket that once wrapped around her body, she scrambled up, walked fast towards her cabinet, and rummaged through her clothes. Out of her peripheral vision she noticed Sasuke scramble out of her bed, as if the furniture was on fire. Finally she emerged from the pile of clothes that she impatiently threw on the ground. She was clutching a blow horn, with it's can glistening white and it's button flaming red. It screamed 'danger to the eardrums!' over and over again.

She then, without a warning, jammed her index finger upon the button, releasing an unbearable noise that can only be matched by Naruto when he runs out of either ramen or sour milk.

**HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!**

" **WHAT WAS THAT FOR!** **AND** **WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN MY BED!**" Sasuke accused Sakura madly, still rubbing both of his arms repeatedly.

Sakura gaped at his innocence and stupidity, then released an angered snarl. " **WHAT WERE _YOU_ DOING IN _MY_ BED!**"

" What do you mean you're bed! Look at this room," Sasuke looked, " The walls," Sasuke glanced at the walls. Not his. " The floor.." He looked at the floor. Not his. " The clothes.." he glanced at the clothes and spotted something that was **_definitely_** not for a male. Not his. (Or is it..? Joking.)

Green beddings. Orange pillows. Gray curtains. Black modern-looking closets. Red couch. Silvery walls. Definitely the complimentary colors of the Rookie Six, and definitely not for Sasuke's eyesight. The Uchiha was always a mixture of blue and black. Not eclectic. He glanced at the closet. Female shirts, pants, shorts and blouses. And never will Sasuke wear one of those. (Or will he..? Joking.)

Sasuke's jaw immediately grew slack, then he found himself spotting the floor in close defeat. Instead, he grunted in both embarrassment and irritation," Why am I here?" asked Sasuke, aghast, his mouth slightly hanging, the color in his face swirling away.

Sakura frowned, placing the blow horn on top of her closet. She began picked up a shirt from the pile of clothes and began to fold gingerly. " Ask that to yourself, bastard."

" Do you know that you sleepwalked right at my door this morning?" Sakura asked, irritated. " And you said something about hotdogs. AGAIN."

Sasuke looked embarrassed, then annoyed, then in denial. " I did not." He scoffed, probably offended by her recent discovery.

Sakura glared at him accusingly for lying. " You did. And I happened to slam my door right at your face. That's why your forehead's purple." She pointed at the purplish spot.

He immediately caressed the spot with care. He scowled. " And so?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at how Sasuke was avoiding the subject. " Which only means you sleepwalked through my door, got somewhat confused, and probably felt to sleepy that you didn't mind who's bed you're taking over."

" That's crap." Sasuke stated defiantly, now standing up and tossing Sakura's favorite pillow aside. He trudged quite quickly towards the door saying, " Whatever. I'm gonna get ready. And don't expect me to be in the same car with you on our way to school, got it?"

Sakura scoffed at his reaction. " I'd rather walk my way to school that ride with you, you moron!"

---

Today was the day almost all students in Konoha High hated. It was what Tsunade fondly called wear-your-school's-uniform-for-a-frickin'-change-you-morons day. It was that certain day in every three months that students were not allowed to wear civilian clothes. Instead, they would have to come to school with customary Konoha High uniform complete with ID's and color coded hair accessories. The rule also included the banning of too much flashy jewelries and over-dangling earrings.

It was an 'I heart Sasuke-kun!' member's worst nightmare. They have to exclude their 'I hearts Sasuke-kun!' shirts from today's get up. So, instead, they just waved them around like banners for all to see, though it may sound a bit more tiring than wearing them. Hey, better be tired than getting Principal Tsunade all bitchy.

So, this morning, Sakura dressed up in the customary Konoha High uniform for girls; a pleated skirt, a long-sleeved white blouse on the inside and a blazer on the outside. She quickly wore her ID lace, grabbed her smaller duffel bag from her bed and raced down the marble staircase.

While she wrenched her skirt down, grumbling, Sakura noticed that Sasuke was still locked up in his room. And by the sound of rummaging clothes, he was still trying to locate his uniform.

**_Serves him right. I hope he drops down dead and just shrivel up and die._**

Sakura wasted no time in waiting for him, exited the mansion's door, only to wonder what her means of transportation should be. She only found a single car on the driveway, which could either be of her or Sasuke's use. So.. would she be kind hearted and spare the car for Sasuke, or simply use the car herself to make the boy suffer?

Sakura then smirked upon reaching her decision.

Soon enough the sleek black Vios sped out of the Uchiha-Haruno mansion, leaving specs of dust floating everywhere.

Ten minutes later Sasuke emerged into the front porch of his home, expecting to see a driver in a limousine, ready to fetch him for school. Instead, he only saw the two dull-headed security guards standing closely side-by-side, grinning toothily at him.

" Sakura-san used the car, Sasuke-san." The first one stated.

" So you have no choice but to use this." The two security guards parted, revealing..

A pathetic-looking small yellow scooter, complete with a pathetic-looking yellow helmet with a pathetic-looking yellow headlight. He could as well be a substitute for the sun.

" I'd rather walk that ride that stinking disposal bin." Sasuke scoffed, his eye twitching at all the yellowness.

" The sidewalks are being re-cemented today." The second guard chirped.

" And the road is overflowing with big cars and vehicles and to even set a toe on it would cost you a leg." Chirped the other.

" Sooo... are you gonna use it? HUH? HUH? HUH!" asked the second excitedly.

Sasuke stared crossly at the pathetic-looking scooter before him.

---

He was late.

Well, he intended to be late.

Why? Because he was riding a pathetic-looking yellow scooter to school. And he would be a pathetic fellow if he went to school early, wherein more students would see him riding the scooter.

He swore to himself that the next thing he's gonna do was fire the two security guards. Sasuke swore he saw the two exchange excited grins as he doubtfully and disgustfully placed the yellow helmet on his head.

Sasuke's head peered through the gates of his school, making sure there were no more people to see him. Sighing in relief at the sight of a deserted parking lot, he got off the scooter, unsnapped his helmet and tossed it aside. He quickly entered the school's gates, jogged towards the main entrance of the school building. Once he was in, he grabbed his class schedule from his pants pocket and saw English as his first subject.

Once he tracked down the English classroom, he twisted the doorknob open and let it swing agape.

" Hello, Sasuke. Why are you late?" a smooth voice asked him the question. " Did you know that being late is bad?"

" Who cares?" snorted the Uchiha, using his very famous maneuver: the tuck-hands-in-pockets move, along with swerve-gaze-towards-the-side technique and the finishing touch, the frown-so-darkly-that-all-the-girls-think-you're-cool skill.

" I think I do, googly-puff." Retorted the man with a mischievous kind of innocence.

Sasuke's fists was automatically drained of color with the tightness. In addition to that his eyebrows were doing this Sasuke-ish way of showing deep annoyance: twitching horribly fast.

Let's peek into Sasuke's wide reservoir of terminologies, shall we? Googly-puff: a word which pertains to Sasuke as a little boy, wherein he was still about two and a half feet tall and surely, uncircumcised. Only three persons in the world was graced of the ability to call him that: his mom, his dad, and his manager.

For all he knew both his mom and dad returned to New York, towing along with them the certificate of ownership of his previous house. Surely, this one in front of him must be his crackpot talent manager. Well, it seemed he had to undergo a few changes for his identity to remain hidden. He was once a famous movie star, after all.

Sasuke did not know what kind of mind-numbing operation was done, but Kakashi's once gravity-defying hair was tamed down. It now framed his face quite handsomely, a portion of the silver mane drawn to the side, which covered a part of his face excellently. No wonder everyone sat so still and quiet. Nobody really recognized him with a large part of his face covered. Instead of his usual casual get up, he now decided to wear a typical teacher's garments: pants, polo, rectangular spectacles.

" Why are you here?" Sasuke demanded quite rudely. " Sir." He added, apparently disgusted.

" I'm your substitute teacher only for this day. Gai-sensei shall not be gracing you with his over-poetical statements for now." Kakashi replied, smiling a small smile, which was worth all of Sasuke's doubt.

Most of the students released a grateful sigh. Over-poetical statements, ones that was especially made by Gai-sensei, were hard to bear.

Kakashi returned to his statement at once. " My name is Sir Sanada Yukimura, and I shall be teaching you the true essence of literature, which is—"

" Oh no.. You wouldn't.." Sasuke stuttered in horror.

" PORN." He finished, smiling innocently.

" **WHAT!**" the students bursted out, angry and confused.

" **BOO-YEAH!**" two male students cheered, stood up in excitement and bumped chests.

Kakashi grinned in glee. " Just joking."

" **OH.**" Sighed the class.

" Now, Sasuke, take you seat, get your book, and simply scan pages eighty-nine to ninety, which contains the autobiography of George Macdonald." Instructed Kakashi (a.k.a Sanada Yukimura). " He happened to be a famous writer of children's storybooks, and made his name known in certain parts of London.."

Sasuke obeyed half-heartedly. He was furious inside with Kakashi's hidden agenda, but quite impressed. Indeed, he knew a lot about literature, and never really graced Sasuke of his wide range of knowledge. _What a prick,_ the Uchiha rumbled mentally.

Okay, maybe he needed a certain explanation why his supposed-to-be manager was disguising himself as a teacher, but maybe he also had to wait. For now Kakashi was doing quite a good job being a fake teacher that he decided to spare the man until dismissal.

" Yukimura-sensei is so cute!" gushed a female jus beside him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. That was the fifteenth time he heard that.

---

Enjoy, y'all!

_ang3Lix._


	11. MWUAH

**Love Story**—_by angeLix

* * *

_

" I'm hungry. Do you know how to cook?" asked Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura eyed him, very offended. " Do **_you _**know how to cook?"

" No."

" Then go ahead and starve to death."

He stared at her blankly before scoffing in disdain. " Whatever."

**Chapter 11: **_Mwuah.

* * *

_

_**Uchiha-Haruno mansion**_

_Evening, after school._

" **NO! SHUT UP! I'M NOT YOUR PERSONAL SLAVE YOU CAN ORDER AROUND ALL DAY!**"

Sasuke closed his eyes in irritation and took a very deep breath. Once he opened his eyes he said, " I'm hungry. I can't cook. Not only I but also you are gonna starve to death if **you** don't. _Should I explain everything?_"

Sakura fumed, as she grabbed something in the back pocket of her jeans. Unfolding the paper quickly she nearly dropped it on the ground, she shoved it in front of his face. " WE HAD A CONTRACT! ARTICLE 5, SECTION 4! WE HAVE FAIR DIVISIONS OF CHORES UNTIL ONE OF US SECRETLY HIRE A SERVANT THAT WOULD NOT DROP DEAD AT THE SIGHT OF YOU! **YOU SIGNED IT!**"

" Look, either pick cooking our food or letting **me** cook and poison both you and myself." Sasuke stated with a tone of finality. " What would you prefer?"

Sakura could not do anything but gnash her teeth together. She knew she lost this battle, since she valued her life **a lot**. And judging by her near to death experience in the kitchen with Sasuke, she figured he was truly telling the truth. As she stomped away, she angrily glanced back at the Uchiha who sat comfortably on the couch, punching on a button on the remote control.

She could only gnash her teeth harder while she worked and he relaxed in front of the TV.

Flipping her foldable cellphone she pressed the speed dial for Naruto's number. She then pressed the receiver onto her ear, listening to the boring ringing on the other line.

_Hello? HELLO? IS ANYBODY ANSWERING THE PHONE? 'COZ I'M IN A HURRY, THE THREE MINUTE WAIT IN MY RAMEN'S NEARLY OVER AND I CAN'T LET IT OVERCOOK—_

" Naruto? It's Sakura."

_Oh, hello Sakura-chan! Uhm, is this an emergency, Sakura-chan? I can't stay long on the phone 'coz the three minute wait—_

" I know, Naruto. The three minute wait. Anyway, do you know anything that I could cook for dinner? I'm starving and so is the bastard."

_YOU'RE COOKING FOR THE BASTARD! YOU CAN'T DO THAT SAKURA-CHAN—Oh no, it's overcooking, it's overcooking! Ueno call the fire station!_

_**Immediately, Naruto-sama!** (said a faint voice)_

" Hello? Hello, Naruto, you still there?"

_Yup, still here, you can't cook for him, Sakura-chan, better off poisoning him than feed him with your superb cooking! Let him suffer! He deserves it for he's such a bas—NOOOOOOOOOOOO! OVERCOOKING! Wait, let me taste this first.. OW. OW. OW OW OW OW OW OW—_

" Uh.. Naruto? Should I hang up?"

_Sandwich! Anything easy! OW OW OW OW OW OW.. gotta go Sakura-chan, see you tomorrow! OW OW OW OW OW_..

**-BEEP-**

Sakura stared at her phone in bewilderment. Flipping it back to it's previous position she lid it in her pocket, grabbed an apron from the rack and stood in front of the kitchen counter.

" Look's like I have no choice." She sighed.

As she was about to reach for the knife, she stopped. She suddenly remembered something that could very useful.

_IS ANYBODY ASNWERING THE PHONE? 'COZ I'M IN A HURRY, THE THREE MINUTE WAIT—_

" No.. not that one."

_OW OW OW OW OW_—

" What the—!"

Finally, the right one popped in her mind just before she could curse at herself for being so forgetful.

_Better off poisoning him than feed him with your superb cooking!_

Sakura's frown slowly evolved into a smirk. A frighteningly devilish smirk that could scare Satan back to his depths of earth. A smirk that could even out throw the famous Uchiha's!

Oh, she's not planning to poison Sasuke, of course! She was not too gory to commit such thing, even to an arch nemesis. But she's making sure she's going to do a more painful alternative than poisoning.

" I think I need protective gear with this." Sakura said.

This was going to be a looooong night.

- - -

Kakashi sighed at the load of books he carried on his way to the school parking lot.

Teachers had such hard jobs of teaching people that he saluted them. I mean, come on, not everyone's a genius! Patience got them working harder and harder. Kakashi cannot do that for a very long time, for he was a complete lazy-ass and had the hobby of setting aside meetings in exchange for his porn reading hobby.

Not only did he have to teach neophytes about (no, not about porn) some guy with a mustache and beard (who apparently was a well known author all over parts of London), but he did not have Haruno Sakura in his classes today. And he cancelled his meetings for this!

The main reason why he wanted to met so much this girl was to know her better. If she's any good for his little googly-puff. If Sasuke's despising her every time he had the chance, then she must be one of those 'I-heart-Sasuke-kun!' girls he was always throwing stuff around in frustration for. She must be sooo clingy Sasuke's determined to cut off his arm!

Well, that was his initial impression. He was yet to know who she really was. As the saying goes,

**_Do not judge a book by it's cover, for some books may be all innocent outside but inside it's suddenly filled with useless PORN. _**Sasuke's voice mysteriously echoed through Kakashi's brain.

_Wha..? Porn's useless?_ Asked Kakashi mentally, his brows twitching in confusion.

**_Uhm, actually not really—I mean.. YES! Of course! So stop reading it!_**

_No thanks. _Kakashi chirped, tying the random Sasuke voice with thick rope, gagged him with something like a used sock, spun him around for no apparent reason at all, and threw him into a pile of random stuff and thoughts. The random Sasuke voice was burning and dying because the pile of thoughts were so full of PORN.

He's allergic to porn.

You can't imagine how much Sasuke's suffering because of porn! For the Uchiha boy porn can cause..

Asthma attacks,

Heart diseases,

Sudden surge of blood pressure,

Sudden discoloration,

Loss of blood due to excessive nosebleeds,

And rashes.

_But I will not give up!_ Kakashi roared mentally, determination in his face and a fist raised, _THIS IS A REVOLUTION!_

" **YOSH!** FIGHTING SPIRIT!" Kakashi said, nodding his head.

He then grabbed his phone and dialed someone's number quickly. Placing the receiver upon his ear, he waited for someone to answer.

_Good evening, you have reached the line of Maximedia productions, how can we be of service?_

" Youna, it's me."

_Kakashi-san! Hikaru's manager was furious! He was shouting in rage, spit flying all around—_

" Really?" Kakashi raised his brow at this recent discovery. He had always hated that guy, the git-slash-manager-of-Sasuke's-love-pair-in-movies. He wished the bastard got a heart attack. Oh, he really did wish sooo hard.

_He almost had a heart attack because of anger! He says he's gonna get you, Kakashi-san—_

" Darn it!" Kakashi cursed at the misfortune. ALMOST! Maybe if he shoved Yukino Hikaru down a well, would it suffice a **real** heart attack? Would it? " Anyway, Youna, I called to—"

_Fortunately he had given us another chance and appointed a meeting tomorrow at noon, so please, don't miss it! Or else I might face he's senseless wrath again. It was horrifying! _

" –cancel all my appointments for tomorrow."

_NO!_

" Okay, thanks, Youna! I'll surely be back by the next day." Kakashi beamed in happiness.

_NO, KAKASHI-SAN—_

**-BEEP!-**

Kakashi continued to beam. " Youna-san is so generous!"

- - -

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Oi, Naruto! I am sooooooo boared! Wait, did is spelled boared wrong? You know, like nothing to do and just staring in space idly?

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:41 P.M. ****By: Naruto to Kiba**

Oh at least you just have nothing to do I have to call the fire station 'coz something's burning in my house

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:45 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Burning? YOUR ON FIRE!

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kina**

No you idiot my ramen's on fire and I asked Ueno to call the fire station so they can put it out

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

YOU CAN'T CALL THE FIRE STATION FOR OVERCOOKING RAMEN! AND YOU SAY I'M THE IDIOT!

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kiba**

At least I don't spell bored wrong like you, you wrong speller

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

I know how to spell, thank you very much! I just can't consult a dictionary right now! Anyhow, how is Sakura-chan doing with the bastard?

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Neji to Kiba**

New English teacher. I heard he's looking for Sakura. Heard anything about it?

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Neji**

Really! Isn't that illegal and socially banned?

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Neji to Kiba**

Not **that** kind of way you inconsiderate git.

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Neji**

Oooh. I see. Nope. But I saw the substitute, he's kind of nice-looking. And kinda young.. I dunno. He's got a weird hairstyle.

**Text message: received!T****ime: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Neji to Kiba**

I don't really care about his hairstyle right now.

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kiba**

HEY KIBA I THOUGHT YOU WERE TEXTING ME AND EVERYTHING YOU HURTFUL GUY YOU FORGOT ALL ABOUT ME

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Neji's texting me right now too. And you text without breaks so you're boring.

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kiba**

YOU ASS I'M THE MOST INTERESTING PERSON IN THIS PLANET

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Enough about crap. Did you have our new substitute English teacher today?

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kiba**

YES HIS NAME IS SANADA YUKIMURA-SENSEI HE HELPED ME OPEN MY RAMEN CUP DURING LUNCH HE'S A GENEROUS GUY

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Neji told me he was looking for Sakura-chan.

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Neji**

NEJI ARE YOU SURE SANADA-SENSEI'S LOOKING FOR SAKURA-CHAN I HOPE NOT HE'S A GENEROUS GUY HE HELPED ME OPEN MY RAMEN CUP BUT WHAT IF YOU'RE HEARING WRONG THINGS

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Neji to Naruto**

Ever heard of breaks and punctuation marks? Ass. I heard it from a reliable source. I memorized her timetable just a while ago and Sakura has English tomorrow. And how can you call a guy generous just because he opened a ramen cup for you? Idiot. And can you shut off the caps lock in your phone? It's infuriating in my eyes, even if it's colorless.

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Neji**

SORRY GOT TO GO NOW I GOT HOMEWORK BYE

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Naruto to Kiba**

NEJI'S THE WORST TEXTER EVER!

**Text message: received! ****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

Ditto!

**Text message: received!****Time: 8:34 P.M. ****Sent by: Kiba to Naruto**

So.. did I spelled boared right?

- - -

" DINNER!" yelled Sakura from the kitchen.

Sasuke nearly toppled out of the couch with the shout he heard from the female. It had been two hours since she shut herself in that room. She should have cooked something really grandeur to spend so much time in a sweltering hot kitchen.

Striding swiftly away from the living room he entered the kitchen's doors, expecting to see a large feast fit for a movie star like he was.

" Sandwiches?" fumed Sasuke, very pissed. " You spent TWO HOURS in the kitchen only to make two dumb pieces of bread with some stuff in between! **DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO COOK REAL FOOD!**

Sakura looked at him as if nothing wrong was happening. " That's real food. And it only took me fifteen minutes in the kitchen."

" It felt as if.. it took you much, much longer." Sasuke said dubiously, narrowing his onyx orbs down at the petite female.

Sakura stared at him blankly, then blinked. " No, I didn't take that long."

* * *

" SO.. are you gonna eat it, or what?" asked Sakura quite hopefully.

Sasuke raised a brow with this.

* * *

" **UENO! I TOLD YOU TO CALL THE FIRE STATION!**"

" My deepest apologies, Naruto-sama! I shall attend to it immediately!"

* * *

Kiba stood in front of a bookshelf.

" Dictionary.. where the heck is the dictionary?"

* * *

Kakashi was scribbling a stick man on a piece of paper. He drew the man quite happily, for the stick man's face was smiling.

" THIS IS A REVOLUTION!"

* * *

Sasuke picked the sandwich cautiously, then sniffed it doubtfully. He then poked it, carefully peeled the sandwich apart, searching for something that could be worth his doubt.

" Are you gonna eat it, or what?" Sakura asked irritably, as if a fish vendor confronting a fish-poking customer.

Sasuke glared at her for no apparent reason.

* * *

Youna had fainted just a good thirty minutes ago.

* * *

Neji had thrown his cellphone out his window.

* * *

Naruto was about to fire Ueno.

* * *

" Fine, I'll eat it." Sasuke decided finally.

Again, picking it up, he lifted the sandwich near his mouth. Sakura almost thought he'd chuck it out somewhere, but her hunch was proved wrong when he took a bite off the corner.

Sakura could only watch as he continued to chew.

Sasuke, inside, felt extremely doubtful. He only complied into eating the sandwich to prove he was a) not a sissy, and b) uhm.. not a sissy, apparently. There could be endless possibilities of what this piece of food could contain. This was the perfect timing for a sabotage, and Sasuke was sure she'd take the chance, based by its rarity. She was a smart woman, though he would not likely admit it to anybody but himself.

But as he continued to chew, as he continued to _wait_ for something foul, nothing came. To tell the truth.. it tasted pretty decent. Very decent indeed.

" It tastes.." Sasuke coughed, clearing his throat, his eyes darting around, " ..fresh."

" Yup," Sakura stifled her laughter, " Sure, really fresh."

" Yes, and that's all there is to it—" Sasuke said in finality, but something made him stop.

Something.. very hot.

Immediately, something very hot and painful stung his tongue repeatedly. Sasuke's eyes began to water as he forced his food down quickly, not bothering to taste anymore of it. He coughed, and coughed, but nothing seemed to change. He was still in very, very, deep pain.

He could hear his fiancée almost die out of laughter. And he did hear snorting.

Sasuke's initial reaction was to find something liquid—and luckily, he found one quite quickly. A glass of water stood right beside the plate where he took the sandwich from. He gulped it down like mad, until he had to dash to the refrigerator for a refill. He was about to gulp down his fourth glass when he felt the pain die down slowly.

Running his tongue through his teeth, he made sure nothing of the pre-digested sandwich was left in his mouth. He turned to glare at the female who can't help but double over in laughter.

" I-I'm sorry!" gasped out Sakura, who was still clutching her sides. " I just couldn't help it! It's the perfect timing. You did let me have the chance you know. I just didn't think you'd be that loose!"

" If sorry is really acceptable, then why the heck do we have police?" Sasuke said quietly, his fist closed quite tightly than normal.

" Don't tell me you're really mad!" said Sakura, still grinning, " I mean, _come on_, you should have expected me to do it, since you've been pushing me around since I got here—"

" **No, I didn't.**" said Sasuke darkly, as he strode closer to the Haruno. She nervously noted that he was cracking his knuckles noisily, not to mention in a threatening sort of way.

By now, Sakura could not smile anymore. Sasuke, who happened to be her fiancée, was looming grimly towards her, his face absolutely livid. Come on, she never expected this to happen. Who knew Sasuke had the nerve to be pissed off when he was the one bending the rules of their contract and making her do most chores!

Her legs were on the verge of shaking when he was near enough to knock her lights out. Sasuke upturned one side of his mouth into a smirk.

" You really made me angry." He whispered, " I think it's time for retaliation."

Sakura frowned at his behavior. " You're the one who's virtually enslaving me to do most of our chores and you have the nerve to say you're angry! Well guess what, I'm as hell angry as you are! And don't y—"

Sasuke, apparently, had a very intelligent mind when it came to vengeance. For he had grabbed the back of Sakura's neck, leaned down swiftly, and pressed his lips upon Sakura's before the thought of breaking his nose came across her mind.

* * *

**FIN.**


	12. dialing for backup

**Love Story**_—_by ang3Lix

**Chapter 12: **dialing for backup

**Warnings:** major cursing. Please make sure you can handle the ear blowing words before reading. Much thanks to all!

- - - - - -

Sasuke did not understand what was going on.

He expected rueful reactions, dangerous outbursts, and a broken nose, for God's sake! This was the things he expected from a wild female like Haruno Sakura, especially when provoked even with the slightest things such as her hair color.

But instead, he stood in front of the woman, waiting for what he felt nothing at all.

He wanted to feel the satisfaction of Sakura being angry, mad, frustrated—for he knew just by that he had won their game of wits. He could fully gloat to the world that while Sakura only thought of spiking his food with three teaspoons of chili powder, he had thought of kissing her as vengeance—and worked as successfully as he thought it would.

Sasuke knew how to decipher weaknesses, and surely, the weakness of the strong, tomboyish, man-hating Sakura was receiving the most earth-shattering thing that could break down the pride of a woman like her—a simple kiss from a simple someone. Easy, wasn't it? Add the fact that the person who kissed her was her sworn enemy, then it should be a clash of fists already!

But no. That was not what Sasuke received. To tell the truth, he received nothing at all! Sakura was as silent as an unanimated object. Not even a murmur as soft as a mouse's squeak could be heard from her.

_Come on, you could at least cry!_ Urged Sasuke mentally, beads of sweat forming down his neck. Though he knew this was not going to happen (for this girl have no tear ducts, Sasuke presumed), he could at least try hoping.

But, unexpectedly, miniscule tears began forming at the base of her green eyes, shining like moon-lit puddles. Her lower lip began to tremble, her fists clenched tightly. Her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

Sasuke waited for **the moment** of satisfaction he deserved for putting up with this female, who can anytime beat him into something that could resemble partially digested food stuffs. She was actually going to cry! This was history in the making, apparently.

" I hate you." She finally muttered vehemently, before she turned away and stormed off, probably to some part of the mansion.

Feeling quite dejected, Sasuke sat himself down on the kitchen counter with one great heave.

" That was disappointing. " sighed Sasuke, rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck. " All the hard work.."

But Sasuke would soon find out, that making Haruno Sakura cry was something one should definitely not do.

- - - - - -

Secretly, onyx orbs peeked through the thin space between Sakura's door and its frame.

He tried adjusting his position to the left, to the right, but his view of the interior of Sakura's room was still small.

Of course, Uchiha Sasuke was not spying. Uchiha Sasuke was most likely, not a peeping tom. Uchiha Sasuke just wanted to calm his inner voice by making sure the female he aggravated was not.. dunking herself into water in some form of suicide. And by the looks of the Haruno a while ago, she was ready to kill someone with her bare hands. Well, we kind of know who's that someone is, don't we?

Uchiha Sasuke was not concerned of course. Well, at least he **tried** to convince himself he wasn't. He reasoned to himself that the only reason why he was snooping around, his face pushed against a small space between a door, was to calm down his thumping nerves. After that, he'd be sitting on the couch and watching TV.. right?

Sasuke then heard a couple of footsteps heading towards his location. Panic flowed through his veins as he scrambled to get to his feet, straighten his clothes, and apparently, look as innocent as possible.

He turned to where the noise came from—and saw only their two security guards striding quite quickly to where he was standing.

Sasuke raised his brow at the two, never remembering calling the for anything so far. " What are y—"

" She's gone, boss." Both of them chorused, heaving their breaths in deeply.

" We tried to follow her, but she used your car!" the first one said, placing his hand across his forehead to wipe away the beads of sweat.

" She ran away." The other said dejectedly, shaking his head.

Sasuke, uncertain, felt a tug on his chest, pulling on it's threads forcefully. Running his hand through his raven locks, he nervously closed his eyes in distress, and also in hope to tame down the quick thumping of his heart against his ribs.

Finally, he breathed out deeply, as well as gulping down the sticky lump that had formed upon his throat. " What direction did she take?" he asked, forcing his voice not to shake.

" That way.." the first guard said feebly, pointing to his left. " And she kept driving on, until she reached the park. That's where she took a left turn."

Sasuke's mouth went dry. Suddenly, an expression of irritation was plastered on his face. " I know where she is."

- - - - - -

Neji… 

**Who the heck was that?**

_Neji…_

**I'm sleeping, darn it… go away…**

_Neji…!_ (tap, tap…)

**Aargh, god dammit… I'm hell tired, so shut up! And stop knocking on my window!**

_Neji!_

**Oh, so now you're all angry! You're the one who's disturbing someone's sleep!**

_Neji, damn it, open the frickn' window!_

**I'm not listening! Na na na na…**

_God, it's getting really cold in here… AARGH!_

**Hey… funny how that voice sound like someone I know…**

_WHO IN THE WORLD LEAVES THEIR SPRINKLER IN THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT!_

**Haha! How weird! Now that sounded a lot like a friend of mine!**

_OH, SO NOW YOU'RE MOCKING ME! YOU'RE GONNA GET IT, YOU WATER-SPEWING IDIOT!_

**Haha… ha… now that's interesting… it sound a HELL LOT like a best friend of mine…**

…

**Oh. Where'd she go?**

_HACHOO!_

**She even sneezes like Sakura! Isn't that coincidental!**

BAM!

With that crash resounding deep into his mind, Neji abandoned all subconscious thoughts and opened his silver eyes to the world. Before he could even fix up his bed-ridden appearance, he had bolted out of his king-sized bed and headed for the window that had the signs of severe damage.

Chips of broken glass made a beeline for his face. Avoiding them cautiously, he approached the window carefully, avoiding the open pane.

He peered through the cracked window; and yet, he saw nothing. Did the person finally gave up and decided to take off?

**Sniff.**

Upon hearing that sound, Neji had taken a double-take back to the porthole and opened it completely. The window was, to put it down, big. After a few seconds of lugging, he poked his upper torso through it, guaranteeing him full sight of the lawn before him.

**Sniff.**

He looked down. Did the fates just hate him too much? Because he had a feeling that they were slowly making him an idiot. On purpose!

Sakura was sitting cross-legged by the cemented sidewalk, which was lying after a long row of bushes. She was soaking wet, her bare shoulders shivering with cold. By the way she was sniffing, she probably was waging one of her unusual crying sessions. She currently had her pointer finger inside her mouth—it seemed that it got pricked by some stray thorn bush among the ones behind her.

Heaving a sigh, Neji said, " Get in."

Smiling amidst all the tears flowing like rivers upon her cheeks, she stood up.

Neji wanted to bang his head into a wall. Maybe the fates decided to officially make him the stupid person. Apparently, Sakura's clothes had clung to her whole body like some piece of Velcro because of the lawn's automatic sprinkler.

It was only now.. that he saw her best friend as someone who's.. well, hot.

_Shut up, Hyuuga! _He urged himself, _that's a mortal sin! _

**_MORTAL SIN-SHMORTAL SIN! _**Barked inner Hyuuga Neji, **_You loser, even if she's our best friend, it doesn't mean we can't ogle at her perfectly shaped body—_**

Inner Hyuuga Neji was thrown into a lake of random thoughts after what he had just said to his original self.

- - - - - -

Neji winced visibly as his ears pounded loudly against Sakura's wailing.

After seeing Sakura soaked just outside his window, Neji had ushered her in and gave her time to change into something cleaner and.. apparently, something drier. Unfortunately the female members of his family were located somewhere to the left wing of the mansion, while all males were situated at the right. Having unknown visitors in the dead of the night was unacceptable for his hard-ass cousins, for they transform into grouchy bastards and bitches when disturbed in their sleep.

Actually, it was lucky the crashing of Neji's window didn't wake his beastly family members. Or else he'd be dealing with more than a wailing Sakura by now.

After letting her change into some of his clothes (since he knew it was impossible to borrow some from his female cousins, since it was still not the break of dawn), he quietly instructed the female to follow him into the Hyuuga mansions rehearsal room, which was conveniently soundproofed.

So, he stared blankly at Sakura, who wore his shirt, his baggy drawstring pajamas, his—

_STOP IT!_ roared Neji inside his head.

Okay, so back to the present situation. Sakura was bawling hysterically, a finger poised against the edge of her eye—a typical child-like action. Neji could barely understand the words she was crying about. As she sat on a puffy couch with Neji by her side she continued to rant in what she thought clearly audible words.

" I cannot understand a word you're saying, Sakura." Pointed out Neji blankly. She should have known Neji was not the type to be approached when you have an extremely heavy burden. See what he'll do! Stare at you blankly!

" Sasuke stole it!" cried Sakura, now a bit more audibly, " Sasuke stole it!"

Neji almost sighed with relief. At least, they were going on the right direction! " Okay. We're in the right track." He assured Sakura, who was sniffling noisily. " What did he steal from you?" he asked carefully, trying his best not to provoke anymore tears from the woman.

" He stole my first popo!" wailed Sakura, pounding her fists against her own lap.

Neji looked confused and bewildered. " Popo..?"

" _Give daddy a popo, hunny, he's leaving to buy you a pair of boxing gloves!"_

" _Neji-kun, are you okay?" the little pink haired girl asked, concern seeping through her emerald orbs. " Come, let me see your booboo, I'll give it a popo and it'll feel much better!"_

" _Naruto-kun, no popos until your college, promise?" the pink-haired female and the blond boy held pinkies as a seal to their promise._

" **_He stole my first popo!"_**

Neji paled beyond comparison. Choking on air, he stuttered out in astonishment-dejection-anger, " He.. h-he kissed you?"

Sakura nodded weakly, sobbing noisily.

" Yes, I did." Said a voice, which both recognized immediately.

Sakura and Neji turned to where the voice came from. There, standing by the open window, stood Uchiha Sasuke, completely soaked with sprinkler water.

Sakura sniffled, casting him a dark glare. " You're dripping all over the carpet, bastard." She shot angrily.

Sasuke in turn shot her an irritated look that said, 'Nice thing to say in a serious predicament.'

- - - - - -

It was a sudden burst of events.

Suddenly Neji had sprung to his feet and planted a hard blow upon the Uchiha's face, leaving a purplish imprint as a reminder. Sasuke, being the proud, egoistical person that he was, did not back down and threw back a punch against the Hyuuga's cheek. In no time both were wrestling the other to the ground in a mad frenzy of kicks, jabs, and punches.

As Sasuke and Neji strangled each other, Sakura had uncertainly stopped her crying upon Neji's blow, and attempted something no one should ever try: wrenching the two angered males apart. Well, let's say in the process she received a stray fist in the face and a misplaced foot on the stomach that either belonged to Neji or Sasuke, which made her even more madder.

Using her inhumane strength Sakura pulled Neji away from her fiancée, crunched up her fist and shot it upward in an uppercut. She then pulled Sasuke by his collar and punched him straight at the face, letting the cartilages of his nose break.

" ASSES!" Sakura yelled in frustration, " THAT'S WHAT YOU TWO ARE! SASUKE YOU BASTARD, HOW CAN YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO STRUT IN HERE WHEN YOU DID SOMETHING TOTALLY **UNFORGIVEABLE**! HOW LOW CAN YOU GET! AND YOU, NEJI, I THOUGHT YOU HAD SOME SENSE! YOU'RE MY BESTFRIEND AND YOU STARTED ALL THIS! GOD!"

Suddenly, the door of the rehearsal room pounded open, revealing several bed-ridden men and women. They looked as if they were ready for some blood.

Oh no.

" NEJI, DAMN IT! FUCK THIS NOISE!" roared a teenage male, banging his hand on the wall, " HOW THE MOTHER-FUCKING HELL DO YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO SLEEP WITH ALL THAT FUCKING YAPPING, YOU GAY! AND YOU, YOU SHITHEAD-LOOKING PIECE OF ASS!" he roared at Sasuke, " YOU'RE FUCKING LOST IN THE WRONG FUCKING HOUSE! WHO THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU, ANYWAY!"

" Kuroyanagi, shut the fucking hell up you stupid dick!" yelled a woman by the door, massaging her head. " You'd better stuff a fist at that hole you call a mouth or else I'd punch your face in, you useless fuck!"

" Sorry for the disturbance, Kuroyanagi-kun, Umi-chan." Said Sakura roughly, massaging her abdomen, where either Sasuke or Neji kicked her at. " I know you all need your rests, and behalf of these two, I apologize for the noise—"

" Sakura-chan!" greeted a now lively Kuroyanagi, " It's so nice to see you!"

Umi smashed a fist right at the back of his head, " You good-for-nothing moron!" she yelled right at Kuroyanagi's ear, " It's nothing, Sakura." She waved the apology away. Umi did a double take. " Are you.. hurt?" she asked at the sight of her purpling bruise and aching abdomen.

Sakura smiled through her gritted teeth. " Nothing deadly—"

Umi turned, once again, into a killing machine. " THAT'S IT! NEJI, GET YOUR ASS IN THAT CORNER AND STAY THERE! YOU, YOU USELESS PRETTY BOY, GET UP AND GO AS FAR AWAY FROM NEJI AS POSSIBLE OR I'MA KICK YOUR FACE IN! KURO, DON'T JUST STAND THERE WITH THAT STUPID LOOK ON YOUR FACE, GET ME A FUCKING FIRST AID KIT! USELESS MORON!" she roared.

When the both grumbling boys sat half-heartedly at their respective corners, Kuro returned to the rehearsal room with a medical kit. Umi grabbed it from his hands and opened a bottle of ointment. She began to dab some in Sakura's face using a cotton ball very gently. Funny how Kuro and Umi be unstoppable beasts towards others, while they transform into cute, little respectful puppies at Sakura's presence.

" Feels a lot better," sighed Sakura contentedly, " Thanks a lot, Umi-chan, Kuro-chan!"

Umi threw the bottle of ointment roughly, which was caught by Neji. She threw the spare bottle towards Sasuke, who was still looking as murderous as Neji.

While Sasuke was furiously dabbing the liquid on his cheek, he wiped his slightly bleeding nose with the sleeve of his shirt. He casted another forceful glare towards Neji, as if forcing the white-eyed male to melt against his heated gaze. He then turned his angry stare towards Sakura, whom he just wanted to glare at with no apparent reason at all. That was when he noticed it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in irritation. He then sneered, " Nice of you to lend him your clothes, Hyuuga. A very _decent_ thing to do, really."

Neji flashed his blazing orbs towards the sneering male. " Oh, it's not that at all _Uchiha_." Neji retorted with the same collectivity and coolness, " It's just because I have enough decency not to steal someone else's.." Neji struggled for words, " **popo**, without any permission like a bastard would likely do!"

Sasuke looked very confused, " Popo..? What the heck—I'LL SHOW YOU DECENCY, YOU RAT-ASSED—" Sasuke began to growl menacingly, and was ready for another rumble.

" OKAY, THAT'S IT, I'M CALLING YOUR FUCKING MANAGER, YOU MOTHER-FUCKING ASS!" Kuroyanagi roared, angrily flipping his phone open and dialed someone's number quite fast.

" _Hello, world!"_ said the voice over the phone. They could clearly hear the voice for the loudspeaker of Kuro's phone was activated.

" ASSHOLE! COME HERE!" yelled Kuro over the phone.

" _Oh, it's you, Kuro-kun!"_ chirped the male merrily, _" what can I do for you, friend?"_

" YOUR MAN-BITCH IS HERE, GOING ALL CRAZY AND STUFF! GET YOUR ASS HERE QUICK!"

" _Kuro, you are so kind!"_ chirped the voice again, _" But I'm not a homo, you know. But I'll gladly come over to kick my protégé's ass!"_

Kuro yelled over the phone once more.

" DRIVE SAFE, YOU BASTARD-WHORE!"

" How do YOU know Hatake Kakashi, Kuro?" asked Umi indecorously, hitting him hard on the arm,

" The bastard and I were classmates in Toshihiko Seki's Entertainment Workshop." Kuro said aimlessly, " He did some pretty good acting down at that place."

" YOU ACTUALLY GO THERE! YOU COMPLETE MORON, WHY THE HECK DID YOU NOT TELL US ALL THIS!" Umi shrieked, excited.

Kuro snorted, " And have all of you act like **this**!" Kuro waved a hand over at Umi, who was shaking with excitement. " No way, not in a million mother-fucking years."

While Umi was convulsing badly, someone knocked on the rehearsal room's window. All of them turned—and saw the gravity-defying hairstyle of Hatake Kakashi. He was one again, grinning like nothing of a ramble happened.

" Hello, world!" he greeted jovially.

Kuro frowned with curiosity, " Since when were you able to resist your laziness and actually got here _that_ fast!"

Kakashi, again flashed his teeth at them. " I was in the neighborhood!"

" Stinking bastard-liar." Kuro grumbled in disdain.

Neji rolled his eyes. " Couldn't anybody see that the Hyuuga estate has doors?"

- - - - - -

Haruno Sakura found herself shaking hands with the ACTUAL Hatake Kakashi.

It was not that she was star-struck with his complete and undeniably blinding charm. No, Sakura was not the type to ogle at famous celebrities that could have chances of running for president. She was simply stunned because of Kakashi's.. well, _bounciness_.

" YOU MUST BE HARUNO SAKURA!" he had yelled, as he was halfway through the rehearsal room's window. When he managed to scramble through, he had grabbed her hand (the sore one, may I add) and shook it like there was no tomorrow.

Sakura groaned under her breath. He REALLY needed to let go of her very sore hand now. " Nice to meet you, Kakashi-san." She said uncertainly.

Sasuke began to grumble. " _'Nice to meet you, Kakashi-san!'_ what a complete faker, she's gonna say all that but then suddenly she's gonna do something bad like _spiking people's sandwiches with chili pepper—_"

" SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP, UCHIHA!" Sakura roared, pelting the boy with anything she could reach. Kuro conveniently handed her the contents of their first aid kit, grinning sadistically. He had always hated pretty boy asses like Uchiha Sasuke.

Kakashi brought a thumbs up. " I approve! Go marry each other or something like that!" he chirped.

" What the heck are you yapping about, Kakashi!" shouted Sasuke, who was running around, trying to evade the improved grenades Sakura was raining down on him.

Sasuke then stopped abruptly. A bottle of headache pills bounced on his head. And thanks to that certain bottle, he was awaken! He remembered the true reason why he had invaded an enemy territory with chances of his survival nil as Neji's eyes.

**_To retrieve your fiancée idiot! _**Prodded his inner self, hissing.

_Oh yeah. I knew that!_

Sasuke the cleared his throat, opened his mouth to say—

" Kuroyanagi-kun, Umi-chan, Kakashi-san, Neji-kun, it think it's time for us to go." Sakura suddenly, and nonetheless politely said, her hands intertwined together.

_Huh! That's supposed to be my line!_ Protested Sasuke mentally.

" Are you sure you're safe with Uchiha-bastard, Sakura-chan?" Umi asked, " You could stay here overnight if you want, there are tons of excess rooms in the estate—"

Sakura smiled, shaking her head. " I think I can handle myself, Umi-chan."

Kakashi nodded in response. " I fully trust her statement." He said, observing the two limping males Sakura had bashed his fist through.

" Arigato, Umi-chan, Kuro-kun. I'll be seeing you soon." She politely said, bowing down slightly.

" Take care of yourself, Sakura! No late night activities!" Kuro called, waving, " Except if it's with me, of course—"

He was silenced with a hard bash on the skull, courtesy by Umi.

Sakura chuckled at Kuro's antics. " Of course, Kuro-kun."

Sakura the turned to Neji, who was still scowling heavily. She walked towards the brooding male cautiously, trying her hardest not to attempt anything that could make him blow his top.

" Neji-kun?" she asked uncertainly, " I have to go now."

Neji did not even spare her a single glance. He continued to glare down at the wall in escape from her. Maybe he was a little peeved with her reaction of hitting him on the jaw, when he only started up the squabble in attempt to get revenge for her.

Sakura bit her lip.

Neji could not help but feel extremely pissed off, even at his best friend. Because the things that occurred today was the worst chain of events that happened. And she hit him! In turn for siding with her and kicking Sasuke's ass for her, SHE HIT HIM! That was waaay inconsiderate, thank you very much!

And when Neji's angry, it means absolutely no talking.

But then, before he could walk away and get back to his room, he saw Sakura move in front of him.

" Move." He muttered quietly, directing his gaze at the farthest point away from her.

It was then that Sakura closed in the distance between them and embraced her with all her might.

" I'm sorry, Neji-kun." She had whispered " I'm really, really sorry."

Neji glared down at the petite woman, who partially refused to let go until he said something that could indicate the fix of their friendship.

He carefully placed his arms around her fame loosely in an attempt to embrace back. Sakura smiled softly. For her, this was enough. She knew Neji has limitations upon expressing feelings, and this was the farthest he could go.

Neji could only soften the anger in his eyes while Sakura muttered an audible thank you. As he removed his arms around her, she gave him another apologetic smile and headed for the door, where Sasuke had already gone through.

" That was _smooth,_ Neji" Kuro yelled excitingly, " I never knew you had it in you!"

- - - - - -

Uchiha Sasuke, for the first time, was driving a car. Not a yellow pathetic looking scooter. And he had a comfy seatbelt on, a fresh air-con and a handy cup holder.

But yet, though he wanted to strut his stuff, brag at Sakura for finally taking possession of the vehicle, he could not help but not feel like it.

He sat at the driver seat, driving in complete silence. Sakura was on the front seat beside him, gazing out of the window, looking up at the blinking light posts.

Both were not in the mood to talk about anything. And we probably know why, right?

But Sasuke, unexpectedly, broke the silence first.

" Second day of the engagement and were ready to pull our hair out." He said, " I'll talk to my parents, and you talk to yours. Were gonna end this thing."

Sasuke felt a small pang in his chest. He convinced himself that it was nothing—probably mixed up feelings that needed to be sorted. But it was completely nothing at all.

_Right?_ he had asked himself.

_**Why do I think that you're making the gravest mistake of your life?**_

_This isn't wrong, okay, this is probably the best thing to do. _Growled back Sasuke.

_**Once you break of this engagement of yours, this is going to the press. This would be the greatest scandal you idiot, and the hopes of you stepping up to the pedestal once more is nil! Sakura's the only girl who defied you, so why give up the chance of getting to know her and why she have immunity over your all powerful ego—I mean, charm! **_

_You can't—_

" I don't back out from my word." Sakura had said. " And neither should you. I'm not accepting the engagement because I like you, I accepted it because I respect the decision of my parents. Don't get me wrong."

Sasuke was stunned by her.. nobleness. He could only cough out in embarrassment, readjust his grip upon the stirring wheel, and stare at the road ahead. " Hn."

A few moments passed.

Sasuke held out his hand. " Sorry."

Sakura stared at it blankly, as if contemplating on what to do with it, while Sasuke sweated.

Instead of taking his hand to shake it, she gave him a quick embrace. Quick, yes, but still an embrace.

" I don't shake hands." She shrugged. " I give peace hugs."

Suddenly, Sasuke didn't feel so jealous anymore.

Oops. Did the author just let that slip out? Hihihi. My bad.

" But you're doing the dishes tomorrow morning." Sakura said, lifting her legs up and letting it settle against the car's dashboard.

Sasuke could not help but grin. " Only if you teach me how to."

Sakura tiredly smiled. " You are such an idiot."

- - - - - -

_**The next day..**_

Youna was in very big trouble.

" THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" Hikaru Yukino's manager roared, spit flying around. He banged both is fists on the table, making it sway a bit.

" WE GAVE HATAKE KAKASHI ANOTHER CHANCE TO REDEEM HIMSELF BY ATTENDING THIS MEEITNG, AND HE WAS INCONSIDERATE ENOUGH TO LEAVE THIS ONE OUT! WE TURNED DOWN A PARTNERSHIP WITH KOUYA SHINIGAMI FOR UCHIHA SASUKE'S PARTICIPATION IN THIS MOVIE! KOUYA IS A WELL KNOWN WORLD-WIDE AS A JAPANESE ACTOR THAT MANAGED TO STEP FOOT IN HOLLYWOOD! **DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE SACRIFICED FOR THIS!**"

Youna could have trembled a lot more if she didn't hear a voice from the door.

" Sorry I'm late." Said Kakashi, setting his coat against his chair and slumping down at it.

" Kakashi-san..?" muttered Youna faintly.

" The thing I was supposed to do was finished earlier than expected." Kakashi explained brightly. " I think I'm pretty satisfied with the results."

He looked around, surprised to see furious expressions. He turned to gorgeous girl sitting by the end of the table, staring at her nails, the back of her revolving seat facing the table.

" Hello, Hikaru-san!" Kakashi greeted. " Or could I call you Ino?"

The revolving seat turned around, revealing a beautiful blond with charming blue eyes.

" Where's my Sasuke-kun?" she asked slyly.

- - - - - -

And that was chapter twelve. And I think you all know the next one coming: it's entitled **"Meeting Ino". **Thanks for the people who gave me support, even if I was gone for a long time and still continued to support me. THIS ONE'S FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS! God bless!

Enjoy, y'all!

_ang3Lix._


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